An Insurgent Four
by futurecullen05
Summary: This is the Second Story in my Four POV stories. If you haven't already read it I recommend reading my first story, A Divergent Four, before you start this story. I am reading Insurgent and writing it in Four's POV as I did with Divergent. Hope you enjoy! All the Insurgent Characters will be present and I will stick to the original story line.
1. Chapter 1: Pressure

**Here it is! The second story. Four is back in Insurgent with his POV on the events of the second book. I hope you enjoy and let me know your thoughts!**

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Four notices the end of the line is coming up and rouses the other train members. He allowed Tris to sleep a little longer, not wanting to bring her back to the reality of today's events. He sees her face wince in pain and he walks over to her, hoping her shoulder isn't bothering her too much. He places his hand gently on her left shoulder, not wanting to startle her and he sees her eyes open and connect to his.

He can see the loss settled deep within them and knows there is nothing he can do to help her but can support her as she finds a way through the pain. He feels her take a deep breath and watches her release it, shakily. Four wants to wrap her up in his arms and hold her until her world makes sense again, but at this moment their lives won't allow it.

"Tris, we have to jump." He holds out his hand for her, "Come on." He leads her to the doorway and they launch themselves into the air. As they land, Four hears Tris suck in a breath and realizes the impact must have jarred her shoulder. He wonders how much pain she is feeling that she isn't letting on. They regroup and Four keeps his arm around Tris, wanting to take the pain from her.

They notice there aren't any guards by the fence and Four assumes they must be under simulation. How did Jeanine get all the Dauntless injected with that serum so fast? "The guards must be under simulation, who knows where they are." He moves through the group, opens the box, and punches in the code for the gate, once again thankful for the knowledge he gained from working in the control room. It has saved quite a few lives today.

"How do you know that code?" Caleb chokes out. Four turns to him, "I worked in the control room, we only change the codes twice a year." He feels Caleb's eyes on him for a second too long, assessing him. Four enjoys that he appears dangerous to the group, that will make them think twice before anyone messes with him or Tris.

"How lucky," Caleb comments and Four feels anger boil up inside of him, luck had nothing to do with it. The control room was all part of his plan to escape Dauntless, he went through hours of training, physical, mental, and emotional and then worked hard to learn the secrets of the city's defense to save himself and now he focused that energy on saving Tris.

"It wasn't luck, I only took that job to make sure I would always have a way out." Four glared at Caleb and felt Tris shiver next to him. He turned to her and wanted so much to be alone with her, away from all the fighting and just be with each other. He just got her and it felt like the world was trying to tear them apart. As the group began to move forward, he saw Tris push ahead and he followed, not wanting her to be out of his sight.

They walked side by side and he stayed close to her, support there if she needed it. He let down all his walls on the train and it was killing him that she had a wall separating them right now. This day had been beyond emotional for her, she lost her parents and almost died by his own hand, but she was keeping it all inside when they should be working this out together. He could feel the pressure building up and realized it had to be released soon, unsure of how that would happen, but wanting to protect her just the same.

They reach the Amity compound and he watches Marcus suddenly surge ahead, "I know where to go." Marcus takes the lead and they enter the building through an unlocked door, wondering why Amity isn't concerned with security at a time like this. The group follows Marcus to an office and Four sees Johanna Reyes sitting by her desk. He reminds himself not to stare at her scar as she turns to speak to them. Now that they are inside the compound, Four's only thoughts are on getting Tris' shoulder looked at. She hasn't said anything but he refuses to let her pretend it isn't bothering her.

Johanna scans the group and Four lets out a sigh, realizing she is scanning their injuries as well. He is thankful for Amity's kind and thoughtful qualities as she addresses the group. "The other members of your party got her earlier," she says, "But from the look of your group, you need to see the doctor first. I'll send for one." He feels her eyes linger on himself and Tris a little longer and realizes what she must assume about them.

"My people won't be happy about Dauntless being in their compound so to aid in them trusting you I am going to ask that you turn in all your weapons." Four stiffened, not wanting to be left defenseless but also realizing they needed the Amity right now. He reluctantly pulls out his gun and hands it over but quickly grabs Tris' hand and pulls it to his side. He hopes it looked like a natural movement but he feels better about having at least one weapon still with them. She gives him a look that shows she understands to keep the gun hidden that is under her shirt and squeezes his hand. He sees something in her eyes, a fear of something, but he can't place it and lets it go for now.

Johanna extends her hand to Tris and introduces herself. As Johanna moves toward Four, he hears Marcus start to introduce him but he doesn't want any connection to Marcus right now so he quickly says, "My name is Four. This is Tris, Caleb, and Peter." Amity didn't know who he was and he would rather keep it that way as long as possible.

Four doesn't like the look Johanna was giving Tris, as if she had just acquired a valuable bargaining chip or important pawn in this war. Four will be keeping his eyes on her. They are lead to the doctors where he thankfully sees them begin to heal Tris' shoulder and give her a salve to use on it. As they enter the cafeteria, Four recgonizes the others that they helped escape. He feels Tris grab him and cling to him, fighting against this visit from her past, only reminding her of the two people who should be here with them.

As he is about to take her to their room, an Abnegation comes toward them and hands her a vial. Tris eyes it very cautiously, not trusting anything after all they had been through. The person smiles reassuringly, "Drink this, it will help you sleep as it helped some of the others." Tris grabs it and takes it in one gulp, having a lot of things she would like to forget. He notices her body already beginning to relax and follow the Abnegation to a room and gently places Tris in a bed. As she drifts off, he holds her in his arms, grateful for the closeness and quiet that they deserve. He remembers just yesterday, feeling happy that initiation was over so he and Tris could finally relax and be together. That idea was completely destroyed by Jeanine Matthews and he intended to remove her from their lives so they could have that time that was robbed from them.


	2. Chapter 2: Cracks

After letting himself rest for a few hours, Four reluctantly removed himself from Tris' grip and slipped out of the room. He walked back toward the cafeteria with the idea in mind of grabbing some food. As he entered, the crowd became quiet, looked him over with their eyes, and warily went back to their conversations. He realized what he must look like, dressed in all black, tattoos poking out the top of his shirt, fierce expression in his eyes.

He slowly moves toward the food, grabs some items and finds Caleb and Peter sitting at a table. He joins them silently and eats without talking to them. He can feel Caleb's eyes on him but refuses to acknowledge him. Peter just sits quietly on the other side of him, smart enough to realize he is not among friends.

After quickly finishing his food, he exits and an Amity approaches him to give him some painkillers for Tris' shoulder. He thanks her and heads back to the room. Approaching the room, Fours hears Tris moving around in her room and decides against barging right in. He gently knocks and waits for her to answer.

"Come in," he hears her call. He opens the door and slowly enters her room seeing that look in her eyes again, for a fleeting second before she tucks it away. And then there it was, the wall, she threw it up so quickly and he could feel the space between them. It's a talk for another day, other things were more important at this moment.

"The Amity are meeting in a half hour. They are going to decide our fate." He lifts his eyebrow and smirks at her, letting her know he thinks this was ridiculous. The Amity were such a strange group, nothing he had every experienced before. She shook her head and laughed with him, the laughter not quite reaching her eyes. Four wanted to shake her and make her tell him what was going on, they were a team, secrets would divide them in a world that was already trying to destroy them, but he let it go.

"Never thought my fate would be in the hands of a bunch of Amity," she laughed. Four steps in the room to speak to her, "I brought you something." He takes the bottle out of his pocket, and fills the dropper full of medicine. "They said to take it every six hours." As he hands it to her, he feels her hand graze his and the electricity from the touch surges through him. The desire to reach out, grab her and hold her tightly to him, fiercely surged through his body. He hooked his thumbs through his belt loops instead, anchoring his hands from pushing her too much when she was apparently so fragile.

"How are you Beatrice?" He used her full name, wondering if that would help comfort her and convince her to share with him what is bothering her. She looks at him in shock and he realizes it didn't work. Her laugh sounds genuine though and it's the first time he's seen her truly smile since they jumped on the train. As fast as it appeared on her face, it was gone.

"Did you just call me Beatrice?" she asked. He smiled at her, "Thought I would give it a try. Not good?" She quickly answered him, "Maybe on special occasions only. Initiation days, Choosing Days, …" she drifted off. He saw the realization in her eyes that those holidays and celebrations may never happen again. Her face drops and he assumes she won't allow herself to be happy for a while, just another example of her self-sacrificing attitude she feels she doesn't possess.

"It's a deal." He wants her to trust him completely, to tell him what is bothering her. He is also aware she hasn't returned the words he said on the train. In no way does he want to push her to say it but it wounds his pride a little she didn't say it back to him. He understood she was in shock from losing her parents but he really thought she felt the same way about him. After pulling him out of that simulation, risking her life to save him, he thought for sure she loved him. But his feelings weren't important right now, he had to help her heal.

"How are you Tris?" He gave her a serious look, conveying to her he was here for whatever she needed. He sees her tense and look away from his eyes. Every time she pulls away or closes herself off, he feels the sting through his whole body. She was hiding something and he wished she would just tell him, trust him.

"I'm…." she paused and shook her head. "I don't know Four. I'm awake but I…" It stung to hear her use that name, but he knew she was just being careful not to reveal who he was here at Amity. He moved toward her, watching her crack and wanting to hold her together. His hand slides over her cheek and tilts down to plant a gentle kiss on her lips. Her hands wrap around him and he feels her gripping his arm as if attempting to anchor herself. Her touch fills the hole from the words she hasn't said back to him yet and reassures him she feels the same way. He pulls her closer and then whispers in her ear, "I know, I shouldn't have asked."

She looks into his eyes with another expression he can't analyze. His mind immediately flashes back to his mother's funeral and he feels the cracks forming as well from the memory of losing a parent.

* * *

_His house is filled with people he doesn't know and his father is playing the part perfectly. The grieving husband, now widow, left with their son to take care of, burdened by grief. People comfort him but Tobias stays hidden behind the curtains. The welts on his back from last night's beating still sting every time someone hugs him. His eyes are filled with tears but he has to stay strong. If he shows too much emotion, his dad will punish him for not being enough of a man. _

'_Men don't cry Tobias!' he screamed at Tobias last night as his belt ripped the flesh open on his back. 'Don't embarrass me tomorrow. Show everyone you are a respectable man, not a whimpering baby.' Marcus struck him one last time, dragged him to the closet, and locked the door. _

_As he clung to the curtains, he saw another family enter. The Priors, with their children, who came to pay their respects to him and his father. The boy and girl were younger than him; he rarely saw them in school. The girl met his eyes briefly and he was struck at how piercing they were before he turned away and clamped his eyes shut to stop the flow of tears._

* * *

Four brought himself back to the present and slowly released Tris. "I'll leave you so you can get ready." He watches her walk down the hallway to the bathroom, head hung low, and finds Susan to get her some new clothes. He heads back to his room to freshen up as well.

As he enters the room Amity is letting him use until they decide what to do with them, he lets out a frustrated breath. Whenever this happened at Dauntless, when he felt overwhelmed or angry, he would fire a gun or throw knives or go for a run. Those options weren't available to him anymore and he had no idea how to process his feelings anymore. He slams his body down on the mattress and just stares at the ceiling, trying to puzzle out what Tris could be hiding.

A while later, he realizes they need to get to the meeting and he heads out of his room to go get Tris. He runs into Caleb who stops and stares at him with those piercing Prior eyes. Four has no idea what to say to him so they silently walk together to Tris' room.

Four knocks on her door and waits for her to answer it. He can feel Caleb's eyes boring into the back of his head and wonders when the "big brother" talk is going to happen. He is sure Caleb knows he and Tris are romantically involved and either he doesn't care or is too scared to approach Four about it. Either way he helps he holds off for a while, he doesn't care about his opinion, he isn't giving Tris up for anything.

The door opens and Four just stares at the girl on the other side of the door. She cut her hair off and as much as Four misses her long locks, she looks fierce and sexy. He can barely keep his hands off her and if Caleb wasn't with them, they would never make it to the meeting.

As they are walking down the hallway, Four gets his answer to when the "talk" is going to happen. He sees Caleb stand a little straighter as trying to intimidate Four. "Does everyone know you are Marcus' son?" Four stiffens at those words, he doesn't not want any connection to that man, he hasn't been his song since the first time that belt hit his back.

"Not to my knowledge, and I would appreciate if you kept that to yourself." Caleb looks him square in the eyes, something people rarely do, and continues. "I don't need to mention it. Anyone with eyes can see it. How old are you anyway?"

Four smirks at him, knowing what is coming next. "Eighteen." He stares Caleb down, using his most intimidating instructor gaze, letting him know he better be careful with what he says next. "Aren't you a little old to be with my little sister?"

Four lets out a laugh at that, "She isn't your_ little_ anything." Before he can continue, Tris stops him and he lets her. He doesn't want to insult her only remaining family but Caleb has another thing coming to him if he thinks he is going to keep them apart.

"Stop it, both of you." They continue into the cafeteria and his eyes are immediately drawn to the tree in the middle. He sees Johanna standing in the middle, waiting for everyone to enter. Most of the Amity sit in rows on the floor with the Abnegation sitting in their own corner. He sees Tris scanning the crowd and then watches her face fall. He places her hand on the small of her back and leads her in, letting her know he is there for her.

As they sit down, he presses his lips to her ear, "I like your hair that way." He smiles at her and fights the urge to grab her and take her back to his room. His mind flashes back to those few hours they had before the ceremony in his room. The few hours of joy and the physical closeness they shared were a fleeting memory to Four after all they endured. She smiled back at him yet he still saw those cracks, threatening to tear her apart.

She leaned into him as they sat down and turned their attention to Johanna. "We have before us an urgent question. How will we conduct ourselves in the time of crisis we face now?" Everyone turns and talks and Four sits in awe of their system. This seemed much more positive than the decisions being forced upon them as it was in Dauntless. He heard Tris huff as she said, "How do they get anything done?"

Tobias smiled into her hair, "It isn't about efficiency Tris, they care about agreement. Watch. It's amazing." As they sat there, they watched the Amity surrounding them discuss the issues at hand, adjusting their circles to include others in their discussions.

"This is so bizarre." Tris remarks and before he can help himself he responds with, "It's beautiful." She laughs at him and he joins her, enjoying seeing the small scrap of joy lighting up her eyes like they used to before. "What? They have an equal role in the government and it makes them care." Maybe they wouldn't be sitting here if Amity took more of an active role in their city.

He saw Tris analyzing it and knew she saw things he didn't. She was so great at analyzing situations and seeing information he never would have imagined. "I just wonder what happens when not everyone wants to strum along to the same tune." Eventually they saw people from each area approach Johanna and speak with her briefly. They returned to their spots and Johanna turned to speak to the whole crowd.

"Our faction has always had a close relationship with Erudite for as long as any of us can remember. We can't survive without each other and that puts us in a difficult position. We won't revoke the hand of friendship toward them, regardless of their actions, so we feel the only way to preserve this relationship is to establish our headquarters as a safe house for any and all members of other factions. There are specific conditions to uphold the peace we strive for here. First, no weapons will be allowed. The second is if any conflict arises, you will be removed from the compound. The third is that the conflict of the city won't be discussed, even privately within the compound. We will send this information to the other factions as soon as possible."

Johanna connects eyes with Four and he feels the weight of her gaze, understanding most of those rules are in place because of him and Tris. She continues, still holding his gaze, "You are welcome to stay here if and only if you can abide by these rules. This is our decision." Four grips Tris a little harder, knowing she is thinking of the gun under her mattress. She doesn't turn but whispers to him as quietly as possible, "We won't be able to stay here long." Four's mouth pulls down in a frown, assuming Jeanine will know they are hiding here and come looking for them.

"No we won't," he responds to her as he pulls her tighter to him. How did their lives get so turned upside down? The cracks began to pull at him around the edges, cracks from his past life, cracks from watching Tris struggle with the loss of her parents, and cracks from where his world was headed.


	3. Chapter 3: Changes

**Sorry it took so long, I had this written on Friday but the site was down. I will try to update again later today! Maybe with a few chapters, let me know what you think :)**

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Four walked Tris back to her room, needing some time to himself to figure some things out. He had to find a way to get her to talk to him, hating this wall that was slowly building between them. The previous events had left her scarred in some way beyond just losing parents and he couldn't figure out what it was.

He kissed her and said he would stop by later to talk. She slipped into her room as he headed back to his mind already buzzing with possibilities. She lost her parents, that was traumatic enough but he felt wouldn't cause her to be so skittish. She lost the life she had known for 16 years but so had he, it was something everyone was dealing with right now, that can't be it. He had told her he loved her, his breathing hitched, praying to anyone who would listen that it wasn't the cause for her behavior.

As he analyzed it closer, he realized she wasn't skittish of him so that couldn't be it, although she wasn't as affectionate as before. He felt he was part of the problem but it didn't seem to be because of their relationship, more that she was hiding something from him. Something that had happened when they were separated, when he was under the simulation. He wanted to ask her but she seemed so desperate to keep it to herself he would have to resign to thinking about it every second until she trusted him enough.

On his second hour of pacing his room, he heard a light knock. Hoping Tris had come to him instead of the other way around, he quickly opened the door. Unfortunately he saw the wrong Prior eyes staring back at him and he let out an angry sigh before backing away, allowing Caleb to enter the room.

"We need to talk." He pushes into the room, Four notices that rigid posture again Caleb has when he's trying to be intimidating. He chuckled low under his breath, waiting for the big brother talk to begin.

"I don't like what you said to me before. Beatrice is my little sister and I have a right to protect her. I'm all she has left now and I tend to make sure anyone near her has her best intentions in mind, just like my father would have." He stands proudly, puffing out his chest at the mention of Andrew Prior. Four imagines Caleb is picturing Mr. Prior in his head patting Caleb on the back for standing up to this older man defiling his sister. Sadly the words Caleb chose to use were ones that would cause Four to use the physical skills he learned at Dauntless. Luckily for Caleb, he knew Tris wouldn't like that.

He steps closer to Caleb, standing to his full height, towering over the little smart ass. He noticed Caleb deflate a little as Four allowed his arms to flex slightly, wanting him to understand who was in charge here. "First of all, Caleb. Her name is Tris and you better start using it. Second of all, you aren't all she has left, your sister has me. From what I recall of her telling me about you, you said some pretty nasty things to her last time you saw her and defended your faction, whom if I'm not mistaken is the reason her parents are dead, so I wouldn't play that family card too much. Lastly, you just met me so I don't think you fully understand what my intentions toward your sister are. Let's start this conversation over. You are going to ask me what my intentions are toward your sister, who's name is Tris, and then you are going to realize that I am more family to her than you right now. Feel free to try again."

Four stepped back from him but kept his arms folded over his chest. He wanted Caleb to see if he was going to push this, that Four was perfectly capable of kicking his ass.

Caleb swallowed and cleared his throat. "You make some good points so let me try again." Four smirked, realizing Tris and Caleb were two totally different people. If he had approached Tris in that manner, fire would have burned her eyes and she would have pushed right back at him. Fear wakes her up, makes her stronger, which was why he was so worried about her right now. Caleb, on the other hand, shrunk in fear. Fear made him second-guess what he believed in and Four didn't respect that in people.

Caleb continued, eyes nervously darting around the room, "I just want to make sure you aren't taking advantage of my sister. You are older and although you are from Abnegation, you have been living in Dauntless for the past two years and I know all about their reputation. Bea-….Tris is very important to me, even though I haven't shown it recently, and I want to make sure you are what's best for her. I want to make sure your intentions are to protect her and not to use her."

Four slowly let his body relax, still holding it in an intimidating way, but not wanting to terrorize Caleb too much. He would have been the same way if he had a younger sister. "Caleb, my intentions toward your sister involve two things. I intend on keeping her safe and alive. I know I am older and have the tattoos and Dauntless reputation but I assure you I am Abnegation through and through." He stared into Caleb's eyes, letting that phrase wash over him, knowing Caleb would understand what Four was saying.

Caleb sighed a sigh of relief, Four understanding this was about Tris' virtue all along and he let out a laugh. "Anyway, your sister doesn't make my job easy. She was quite the initiate for Dauntless. She kept me on my toes that's for sure." Now it was Caleb's turn to laugh.

"I can't imagine what you are talking about? She always toed the line in Abnegation, putting up a fight against all our customs. She always had a spark about her. I can imagine she had a lot of spunk."

Four continued to laugh and decided to share a few stories with Caleb. "Well I can tell you there were so many moments where I assumed she had a death wish. The first night she was in our compound, at dinner she sat down next to me, and talked right back to me. The other initiates were so scared of me but not her, I saw the fire that first day and knew there was something different about her. Another time, an initiate wasn't so skilled in knife throwing and he-" Caleb interrupted him, "Knife throwing? You guys teach how to throw knives?"

"Yes we do, I don't agree with it but it's something our leaders wanted done so I taught it. Anyway, this initiate, Al-don't ask her about him, he ended up killing himself-anyway, he couldn't even hit the target and one of our leaders was going to force him stand by the board while I threw knives at him. Supposedly this would teach him a lesson but instead of letting the boy take what he somewhat deserved for talking back to a leader, Tris spoke up and took his place."

"So you're telling me you threw knives at my sister? And you are dating her now?" Four smirked at Caleb's expression, not truly understanding it himself.

"Yes, she stood there and let me throw knives at her. I assume that is when we truly started to trust each other, she trusted I wouldn't hit her. Although it didn't take a lot, I knew I wouldn't hit her."

Caleb looked at him, a million expressions running across his face. "You knew you wouldn't hit her? What are you that good?" Four looked him straight in the eye, again wanting Caleb to know how capable he was of protecting Tris.

"I don't like to brag, but yes I am." With that Caleb stood up and left the room, "I'll be back in a second." He returned quickly with a butter knife and a piece of cheese. "Prove it." Caleb put the cheese down on top of the dresser and handed Four the butter knife. "Hit the cheese."

Four lifted his eyebrow and stared at Caleb, "I'm like a foot from it, I could reach out and stab it." It was now Caleb's turn to laugh as he pushed him lightly against his chest. "Go stand on the other side of the room," Caleb said to him.

Four crossed the room as Caleb stepped away from the dresser. Four turned, looked at Caleb as he flicked his wrist. The knife stuck straight up in the cheese and Caleb's eyes got huge. "You weren't even looking! How do you do that? Try it again, only sit down." Four sat down, enjoying showing Caleb his skills, looked over at the cheese, determined the angle, and flicked the knife again. It landed in the same spot and Caleb shook his head in disbelief.

"Can you teach me that?" Four rolled his eyes and gestured for Caleb to come over and join him. He handed the knife over to Caleb, showed him how to hold it, and stepped away. Caleb stared at the cheese and let the knife fly. It clattered against the wall.

"No, not like that!" Four said while laughing. Caleb turned toward him, a little fire flashing in his eyes, "What do you mean? I imitated you perfectly!"

Four continued laughing, "You did not. Your sister did, after a few tries, but that was pathetic!" Caleb demanded he show him again and just as Four was ready to let the knife fly, the door opened and he saw Tris slip inside. It was hard for him to get used to the new haircut, he just wanted to grab her and kiss her but assumed Caleb wasn't ready for that.

He watched her look from him to Caleb in disbelief. Caleb was beyond frustrated and turned to Tris, "Is he some kind of Dauntless prodigy? Can you do this too?" Tris smiled and responded, "With my right hand maybe, but yes _Four_ is a prodigy. Why are you throwing knives at cheese?"

She turned and gave each of them a look, wanting an answer from someone. Four decided to answer first, "Caleb came to talk to me about something and knife-throwing just came up."

Tris smiled and he felt his face stretch into a smile to match it. He wished it would stay there, wipe away the darkness looming in her eyes but it vanished quickly, "As it often does," she quips. Four let his body relax against the wall, enjoying this moment, as normal as their lives could be right now.

Clabe must have noticed they needed some alone time because he began to make his exit. "Well I better get going. I'm reading this really interesting book on water filtration. I think the Amity think I'm crazy and from the looks on your faces you do too."

Tris shook her head and Four responded, "Not at all, maybe you should read that manual too Tris. It sounds like something you might like." He looked at her with a devilish grin that Caleb didn't catch.

Caleb's eyes lit up, not understanding Four was joking. "I can loan it to you." Tris shot Four an evil glare. "Maybe later," she responded to him. After he left, Tris turned on him and he saw the old her pushing through.

"How dare you! Now he's going to want to talk to me all about that book. Thanks. So why was he really here last night?" Four looked at her and smirked.

"The big brother talk. He wanted to make sure my intentions were pure." His eyes connected with her and he smiled. "What did you say?" She was pushing him, wanting a specific answer and he was going to make her work for it. He took a step toward her, a mischievous grin growing on his face.

"I told him how we got together-that's how the knives came up-and that I wasn't messing around." He stepped even closer and put his arms lightly around her. She closed the gap and melted into him. He slid his arms from her back down to her hips, pulling her even closer. As he pressed his lips against hers, he pressed her up against the door. His will power toward her was weakening and there may be a point that where he couldn't look Caleb in the eyes without lying. He doesn't remember anything before this kiss, he had been waiting for this moment since they jumped on that train.

He felt her arm wrap around him and her hands grip his shirt as she pulled him closer. The kiss deepened and Four felt his body begin to respond to hers pressed against him. His skin erupted in fire as her hand slide up under his shirt and skimmed along his back.

The touch sent him into an entirely different mindset and his kisses became more insistent, his hands tightening around her hips. He wanted to venture them under her shirt but kept his composure, however small that was. He begins to find it hard to breathe and pulls back slightly, realizing Tris may have come here for a different reason. If it was to talk to him about whatever is bothering her, he knew that was more important than what he wanted to do with her right now.

"Is this what you came here for?" She looked in his eyes, "No." "What did you come here for then Tris?" He whispered this into her hair, wanting to badly to go back to kissing but stopping himself. She smiles up at him, "Who cares?"

She pushes her hands through his hair and his eyes close at the contact as she presses her lips against his and his entire plan to get her to talk dissolves from his mind. He gives in and kisses her back. He allows her control for a few moments but then mumbles into her lips, "Tris."

She pulls back with a laugh, "Ok." She sits on his bed and he sits next to her, unable to stop picturing that day on his bed before the results. That was the best two hours of his life, feeling her body underneath his. She turned to him and spilled this whole story about following Marcus and Johanna out into the grove and their entire conversation. As he listened to her, he hated the thought of her near him without Four around. He could have hurt her and Four wouldn't have been there to save her. His mouth pulls into a frown, imagining the belt hitting her and he can barely breath.

"Well what do you think?" she asked him. He was confused, what did this have to do with anything? "I think, Marcus feels more important that he really is." She looked at him shocked, he had no idea what she was expecting of him.

"So, what? You just think it's nonsense?" Four waited a second before he answered, unsure of what she wanted from him.

"I think Abnegation had information that Jeanine wanted, yes, but I think he is exaggerating. He wants to make himself look better, trying to convince Johanna he has something she wants. That's how he works, manipulates people."

He saw Tris frown and wondered why she was pushing this so much. "I don't think you're right. He didn't sound like he was lying."

Four's anger toward Marcus and the life he had with him took over and he forgot all he admired about Tris' ability to read people. "You don't know him like I do. He is an excellent liar." He saw her doubt herself and for a moment he hated himself and her. She never doubted herself before whatever happened the other day happened and he never doubted her before then either. They had been through so much and he wanted them to stay strong together but any situation involving her and Marcus made his blood run cold.

"Maybe you are right." He saw her shoulders slump and he wanted to comfort her but the anger was too strong. " I think it's more important that we deal with the situation at hand, go back to the city, find out what's going on there. We have to take Erudite down and then maybe we can find out what Marcus is talking about. Ok?"

She nodded and he had never seen her give in before. His main goal was to keep her safe which meant keeping her away from Marcus. He couldn't see through that fog. Every time he pictured her in danger, he saw the gun pressed against her forehead from his perspective and he would lose his breath. It blinded him in a way nothing ever has before. He wasn't going to do anything that didn't immediately keep Tris safe.

He saw in her eyes she trusted him but he saw the defiance burning in the background, a glimmer of the old Tris and he wanted her back. He wanted her to fight him on this and push him to see the truth but she let him win and he let it happen. How were they going to get back to where they were before? Before Erudite tore their world down and warped and twisted it into what they were living in now.

He just pulled Tris to him and assumed when it was all over, they would go back to who they were before, as long as they didn't lost themselves on the way.


	4. Chapter 4: History

As he was finishing up his shift in the kitchen, Four felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to find two Abnegation women and an Amity woman facing him. "Tobias Eaton?" He stiffened at the name and looked them warily in the eye.

"I thought that was you. I'm Joyce Williams. I worked with your father in Abnegation. I didn't recognize you until you two stood side by side. You look so much like him." She smiled at him as if that was a compliment. Four held his tongue, understanding how hard it was for anyone from Abnegation to believe Marcus actually beat him.

The Amity woman spoke up before he had a chance to respond, "It's awful about those reports that were created by Erudite. I understand they are our allies but to make up such atrocious lies about your father, I'm sure you are glad to have reunited with him to show those reports aren't true."

Four couldn't handle it any longer, "Well if only that were true but unfortunately every part of that report was correct so I try to keep my distance." The women gasped in horror and Joyce quickly jumped in to defend Marcus as Abnegation usually does, he had them all so easily fooled.

"Now Tobias, I know things went sour between you two after your mother passed away but there is no reason to allow such lies to continue. Marcus is a kind gentle soul and an excellent leader of our faction. We need to build him up not plant false seeds of distrust." Before he could say anything, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes son, remember we have to be a united front if we are going to show Erudite they can't print false accusations about our family and get away with it," Marcus said with a false look of concern for Tobias. Four had enough and needed to find Tris, she always knew how to calm him down. He couldn't stand that everyone believed Marcus' false front when Four had the scars to prove what a horrible man he was.

He pushed through the women and Marcus and headed toward the cafeteria. When he entered, he saw her blonde hair immediately and settled down next to her. She must have felt the aggression pouring off him in waves as did the Amity and Abnegation at the table. He knew in this crowd, he couldn't truly tell Tris what was bothering him without having to hear them rush to Marcus' defense.

"What happened?" she asked him. Four tried to find a way to calmly state what was bothering him without revealing too much of what happened but even those calm words came out harsh.

"In their enthusiasm for conflict resolution, the Amity have forgotten that _meddling_ causes more conflicts." He took a deep breath grabbed Tris' hand, squeezing it to distract himself from the anger, it didn't work. "If we stay here much longer, I'm going to punch something!"

He heard a few people gasp and he gave him dirty looks. Four saw Tris out of the corner of his eye looking at him warily, unsure as to what set him off. She asked him again, "What happened?"

He took a deep breath, letting the tension go, and said, "I'll tell you later." With that he relaxes slightly, allowing Tris' calming effect to wash over him. That doesn't last long when he hears her hiss of pain. Four turns to see a hand clamped down on her right shoulder.

"She got shot in that shoulder," he snaps at Marcus. Marcus gives a false look of shock and says, "My apologies." Four knows better, that was his subtle way of showing Tris he was not someone to mess with and showing Four that he needed to keep his mouth shut. Marcus was warning them that he had the power and Four wanted so badly to take that power away from him.

"What do you want?" Tris asked and Four could tell she didn't want him near them anymore than he did. When Marcus doesn't answer, Tris turned to him and said, "I asked you a question." Four loved how protective she was of him and gave her hand a small squeeze under the table.

"I would like to discuss something with you," he states clearly, appearing calm. Four knows that voice though, he is seething about something, putting on that public face everyone knows and trusts so much. "The other Abnegation and myself have discussed that we are not going to stay here. We feel it is selfish to stay here while the rest of our people are still inside the fence. We want you to escort us."

Four felt Tris tense up, analyzing the situation. He knew her mind was flying a mile a minute, looking for Marcus' motive to returning to the city. He was curious as well, why the rush? She turned to him as Four kept his eyes on the table. If he looked at Marcus, he knew he would do something he would regret in front of all these people. He also wanted Marcus to think he was still that weak boy he could push around so that when the time came, he would have total control over Marcus, taking the power away in one shot. He wanted Marcus to think the history between them was still real, that he was still that little boy cowering under his father's mighty hand.

"What do you think?" Tris asks him. Four looks at her and answers, "I think we should leave the day after tomorrow." He wanted to give her some more time to heal up and possibly they could have some time together before they threw themselves back to the wolves. Marcus leaves after he gets the answer he wants.

Four feels Tris lean into him, rubbing his arm, and his eyes close at the feel of her touch on him. He sees her eyes though, not relaxed, watching Marcus with a hunger, that Erudite hunger for information, and he hopes she stays away from him.


	5. Chapter 5: Passion

Four hasn't seen Tris all day but he needed time to relax and think over what they were going to do once they got back into the city. He had to keep her away from Jeanine, that was his first goal, but he was very wary of Marcus as well. Four had no idea what Marcus' reasoning was for rushing back into the city, he knew it wasn't because he was worried about the rest of his faction.

As day turned into night, Four felt himself drift off to sleep without getting dinner. His body was so exhausted he let himself fall asleep, understanding what he had been through in the past two days was more exhausting than anything he'd experienced before. He needed to rest up so he would be at full strength and mental capabilities when it came time to re-enter the city.

He was awakened to the sound of his door opening, a reflex from childhood. He never slept deeply any more after having to always be on edge in case Marcus entered his room at night. Thankfully the person standing at the door was a much better sight than Marcus ever was. Tris stood halfway in his door with a look of terror on her face, he knew she suffered from nightmares and the past days' events probably didn't make them any better. He also noticed she was only wearing a long t-shirt and his body responded to the sight of her bare legs as well.

Without asking, Four motions her over to his bed, moving out of the way to make room for her. She slowly climbs in, Four realizes she is now aware that she is barely clothed. "Bad dream?" he asks her.

Tris only nods, he can tell she is deeply upset and he again finds himself wishing that she would share with him what happened to her the day of the attack. "What happened?" he asks, hoping she will confide in him.

She just shakes her head and Four feels his heart drop. He is becoming frustrated with her not telling him everything. He sees fear in her eyes and he hopes it isn't directed toward him. Four rests his hand on her cheek, turning her face toward him. He had to reassure her that they are solid, nothing can come between then.

"Tris, we're all right you know. You and me. Ok?" He sees her nod her head but he can tell she doesn't believe him. "Nothing else is alright Tris, but we are." His voice is husky with emotions, emotions from the death she experiences and from having her in his bed.

She stares up at him and whispers his name, "Tobias." He can tell she wants to tell him more but before he can ask, she presses her mouth against his. His body reacts and he is unable to stop the kiss. He doesn't want this to happen if either one of them is feeling anything other than need for the other but he can't stop it. It's been too long since they have been this close and Four has been craving her touch and the privacy Dauntless gave them.

His hand moves from her cheek, down her neck and side, and settles at her waist. He stops it there for a moment, gauging Tris' reaction, although he would like for it to venture further. He has always been crazy about her and her new haircut doesn't help matters. As the kiss deepens, his hand pushes forward, down her leg and he feels her wrap her leg around him. He feels her lean into him and moves slowly, not wanting to push her too far but not able to stop. As his hands skim the bottom of the t-shirt she is wearing, he hears her sigh and it's all he can do to stop himself from tearing the shirt off from her. She is so incredibly sexy and his body screams for contact. His hand wraps around her back and presses her closer to him, molding her body to his.

He can feel her shirt creeping up and as her skin hits his, the fire begins to spread through his stomach. Four slides his mouth down her neck, planting small kisses along her jawline and he feels her grab his shirt with her first as his hand travels up her back and curls around her neck. He feels her hands tighten on his shoulders and Four gets lost in their closeness, his mind dizzy with the physical contact.

As his hands skim her back, he brushes over her shoulder and he feels her jump at the pain. As quickly as it happened, their physical contact ends, both jarred out of the passion taking over their bodies. He feels her lean away and pull her shirt down. Four is breathing heavily, passion coursing through his veins. If it weren't for her fear landscape, he would pull her back into his arms, but he doesn't want to scare her so he reluctantly pulls back.

He sees tears in her eyes and wonders what it is from. Four concentrates on his breathing, slowly it down from the rapid pace their physical contact raised it too. Tris murmured into his chest, "Sorry," and Four wonders what she is apologizing for, the contact or pulling away.

"Don't apologize Tris," he tells her as he brushes the tears away that are running down her face. His hand lingers on her cheek, craving any physical contact she will allow him. He can feel the wall slide between them and he wished she would allow him past it. She sighs into his hand and tucks herself against his body.

"I don't mean to be such a mess," she says, voice cracking, "I just feel so…." Four's heart breaks for her. She has been trying to be so strong when her world is crumbling around her. He feels so guilty for pushing her, wanting her to tell him what is wrong. He realizes all she needs is for him to support her and she will eventually tell him what is causing her this stress.

"It's wrong, what has been done to you," he says, stressing every word, "Even if your parents are in a better place, they aren't here with you and that is wrong Tris. It shouldn't have happened and anyone who tells you it is ok is lying to you." He wanted to say so much more but as he said this she crumpled into tears against his chest. Four wraps his arms around her, wanting to remove all the pain, unsure of how to help her through this. When he lost his mother, he was so young, and all his thoughts were consumed with escaping his father. He had no idea what it was like to lose parents that loved him so much they were willing to sacrifice themselves for him.

He doesn't know what else he can say and realizes she may just need someone to be there for her. "Sleep Tris, I"ll fight off the bad dreams if they come to get you." He feels her smile into his chest and looks up at him with a hint of the humor that once lit up her eyes.

"With what?" He looks at her with a smile, seeming appalled she would ask such a question. "With my hands of course." With that, Four wraps his arms tighter around her waist and pulls her to him, encircling her with his body to keep her safe. He has tried to contain the words he said to her on the train, not wanting to put any more pressure on her than she already has but he has to let her know how he feels about her.

As they fall asleep, he whispers in her ear, "I love you Tris." He falls asleep with a smile on his face and Tris in his arms.


	6. Chapter 6: Skipping

Four wakes up early in the morning, his body feeling rested from the exhaustion that had creeped in over the past few days. He eased himself out of the bed, letting Tris continue to sleep. He had woken up to her tossing a few times in the night but calmed her down from whatever nightmare she was having. He slipped in the shower and when he finished, peeked out but saw her still sleeping.

He didn't want to wake her but his face was in desperate need of a shave so he turned on his shaver and breathed a sigh of relief removing the scratchy beard that had begun to grow. He heard her stir and checked out of the bathroom after he finished the tricky spot along his jawline.

He saw her sitting up watching him and he was brought back to the morning after she had been attacked, how good it had been to see her in his bed. He wanted to rush over and join her, picking up where they left off last night, but he could tell he wouldn't make it far.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" he asked her. "Okay," she responded as she got out of bed. Four turned back to the mirror and finished up one last spot as he felt her arms wrap around him. He loved the feel of her touch and would stay in her arms all day if life allowed for it. He set the razor down and covered her hands with his, enjoying the silence, a stillness their life had not allowed for in the past days. Eventually Tris breaks it and Four feels like press back in on them.

"I should go get ready." He can tell she doesn't want to leave. Four sees her hesitate and realizes she doesn't want to walk the halls without pants and he doesn't either. "I'll get you something to wear." He grabs her a pair of shorts and watches her walk away, wanting so badly to follow her.

Four finishes up grooming, his body relaxing slightly after removing the grime that had built up after they escaped the city. He felt as if it was all a dream, now that it wasn't coating his skin so heavily. He thought of grabbing some food and eating outside with Tris, enjoying their last moments before they head back into whatever they will find in the city. He quickly finds some clean clothes and heads toward her room, hoping she will want to go with him. He was nervous, wondering if this would technically be their first official date. In Dauntless, people tend to skip the ritual of getting to know one another and just jump into bed with each other but in Abnegation it's quite different. People take the time to court, experience life together and that's what Four wanted with Tris.

As he approached her room, he heard shouting and began to walk faster. As he turns into her hallway, he sees fighting and recognizes that tiny hand flying at someone's face. He sprints forward, not wanting her to start anything due to the rules enforced on them and sees her attacking Peter. Four jumps in the middle and hauls her off from him, as she fights back trying to get at him.

"Tris! Calm down!" Four shouts at her. She doesn't even turn but yells back at him, "He has the hard drive! He stole it from me, he took it from my room!" Four let Tris go, walked over to where Peter was lying on the ground and stepped on his chest. He did it a little harder than he needed to but he realized with the rules in place, Peter felt safe and he had to remove that feeling. He stared down at him, shifting back into instructor mode, a person he knew Peter was afraid of. As Peter glares back at him, Four reaches into his pocket, removes the hard drive and leans in close to his face.

"We won't be in a safe house forever and this wasn't very smart of you. Don't think I won't find you if you put your hands on her again." He steps away from Peter and slowly approaches Tris, understanding how dangerous she is when her mind is in this mode. He thinks back to her fight with Molly, how she can get lost in anger when she feels she had been wronged.

"That wasn't very smart of you either, do you want to get us kicked out?" He stares into her eyes and tries to silently tell her to calm down, she doesn't obviously. An Amity man grabs her arm and begins to drag her down the hallway. Four sees her fighting the man and realizes she isn't going to calm down any time soon. "Let go of me!" He wants to remove that hand from her, hating to see anyone touching her when she doesn't want to be touched, but he knows that will only make it worse.

The man responds to her, "You violated the terms of our agreement. We must follow protocol." Tris looks at Four for help but if he gets her out of this, she will just attack Peter again when he looks away. Instead he sighs and gives her a small smile. "Just go, you need to cool down." Tris scans the crowd looking for someone to help her out but finally she relaxes and goes with the man.

Four walks toward Peter and helps him up, only to drag him toward his room. He throws him inside and closes the door. "I'm going to say this fast and then you are going to leave. If you ever go near her again, know that you are out of warnings from me. I don't care if they ship me back to Jeanine herself, if I see you even look at her wrong, I will break every bone in your body. I still have not forgiven you for attempting to kill her and it would be in your best interest to remember how dangerous I can be."

Peter squared his shoulders to Four and tried to look taller but couldn't match Four's height. "You think you scare me? Just because you came in first? That means nothing anymore. You and your little girlfriend better watch your backs." With that Peter left Four's room and Four realized he was going to have to keep Tris in his sight at all times.

He decides to head outside even though he and Tris won't be sharing lunch out there. He finds a nice tree to lean against and he lets his thoughts wander. He thinks back on Dauntles and wonders if the factions are still running. He wonders if the Candor have joined forces with Erudite yet and what is being done with Abnegation. As he feels himself start to drift to sleep he hears a sing song voice call his name.

"Four! Four where are you?" He stands up and looks around the tree, unable to connect that voice with the girl he knows and loves. She sounds so gentle, unthreatening and he can't believe it when he sees her.

"Tris?" He sees her giggle and realizes he has never heard her make that sound before. She runs toward him and he sees her lurch to the side as if she has no balance. His arms reach out and catch her, settling on her waist. Before he can react, she grabs him and pulls him to her, crashing her lips onto his.

"What the-" is all he can get out before she is kissing him. He gives her a quick peck and pulls away, seeing the look of utter disappointment cross her face. Four begins to get angry, wondering what they did to her when they took her away. He should never have let them take her, she seemed to be under some simulation.

"That was lame, well not really, but yes…" Tris said, again using a girly voice Four remembers all the females in Dauntless using when trying to get his attention. She stands on her toes to try to kiss him again but he blocks her with his hand, needing to find out what has happened to her before he goes any farther.

"Tris, what did they do to you? You're acting like a lunatic!" Four realized that wasn't the best thing to say to her but there was no other way to describe how she was acting. Tris' lip shot out in a pout and Four's stomach turned in revulsion, he couldn't stand how girly she was acting.

"That's not very nice to say. They put me in a good mood is all, they relaxed me. And now I really want to kiss you but you won't relax."

He cut her off, "I'm not going to kiss you. I'm going to figure out what's going on." Four had to get Tris back, he couldn't stand this fake version of her. He saw her face light up as if she just realized the most important thing in the world.

"That's why you like me! You aren't a nice person either and you like that I am mean." Four couldn't help but laugh at Tris, she was definitely on something and he needed to get her to Johanna to figure out what.

"We're going to see Johanna, let's go." He moved to grab Tris and she tried to wrap her arms around his neck, attemping to kiss him again. "Don't worry Four, I like you too."

He had about enough of this, "That's nice, let's go." She refused to move and Four was really getting agitated, he couldn't handle having Tris act all helpless.

"Oh for God's sake, I'll just carry you," he said while trying to get her to walk. She kept trying to kiss him so he finally just swung her up in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. As they walked, she was kicking her feet and Four wanted to yell at her but kept it inside. This wasn't her fault and he had to find out what was causing her to act this way.

He finally reached Johanna's office, after having almost dropped Tris three times. She kept squirming around and trying to kiss him or swinging her legs. Four had about enough when he pushed through her door.

As they enter the office, Tris shows just how little of a filter she has at this moment. Before Four can even ask what is happening with her, she blurts out, "You really shouldn't cover up your scar, you look prettier with your hair out of your face." Her voice was so sickly sweet, Four could barely stand to be near her.

He set her down a little rougher than normal and turned toward Johanna. He hears Tris laugh behind him and has no idea what caused it but he decides not to ask. "What did you do to her?" Four looked at her in desperation, needing his tough girlfriend back, not this sappy whiny one.

Johanna looked at Tris in surprise, Four understood that look. Her voice now didn't match her body. Her short haircut and tattoos needed a tough personality not this girly girl one. Johanna sighed, "They must have given her too much, not taking into account her height and weight."

Either it was the fact that the past few days had been filled with dangerous things being injected into his body or that whatever Tris had been given turned her into this but Four became very angry at the thought of her under the influence of an unknown substance. He barely contained his anger when he shouted at Johanna, "They must have given her too much of _what_?"

Tris steps into his line of sight and says in a sweet voice, "You have a nice voice." Four lets out an exasperated sigh, "Tris, please be quiet." He can barely look at her with her eyes all big and doughy and the sickly sweet smile on her lips.

Johanna replied with a slight smirk Four wanted to wipe off her face. "The peace serum, in small doses it has a calming effect and improves the mood. The side effect is some dizziness. We give it to members of our community who have trouble keeping the peace."

Four feels anger boil up in him, why did people think they could just inject a chemical into people and control them? "I'm not an idiot! _Every_ member of your community has trouble keeping peace, because they are all human. You must dump it in the water supply here."

Johanna doesn't respond to that but then folds her arms. "Well that isn't the case here or there would be no conflict. If I could give the serum to everyone in the city, I would. You would certainly not be in the situation you are now if I did."

Anger continued to boil in him, wondering why drugs were the solution instead of just working problems out. "Oh yes, let's drug everyone, that is the best solution. Great plan."

"Sarcasm isn't necessary Four. Now I am sorry about the wrong dose being given to Tris but she violated the terms of our agreement and you may not be able to stay here much longer because of that. This conflict between her and Peter is not something we can forget."

Four wondered if she felt that was an appropriate apology for over-drugging someone but decided to let that argument go. "Well good news for you we won't be staying much longer anyway. We plan to leave as soon as possible."

"Good, peace between our two factions only happens with distance." Four huffed at that, "That explains a lot."

It was Johanna's turn to get angry, Four noticing how red her face got at that comment. "What are you insinuating?"

"Well, it explains how you left us to die at the hands of Erudite, just to remain netural." Johanna turned away from him and looked out the window, ignoring Four's presence. He heard Tris speak, almost forgetting she was in the room.

"The Amity wouldn't do that, they are too nice." Johanna looked at both of them before starting to say, "Peace is why we remain uninvolved-"

Four didn't let her finish, "Peace? Yes I'm sure it will be very peaceful when we are all either dead or cowering in submission under the threat of serums that control our minds."

He sees how angry Johanna is and wonders if it's smart to goad this woman, but then he hears Tris giggle behind him and he is reminded of what this woman did to her.

She speaks slowly, carefully, "The decision wasn't mine to make. If it was, we would be having a different conversation right now. I am not saying I disagree with my faction but in my heart we made the wrong choice."

Four sighed, letting go of some of his anger. "Tris and I will be gone in two days, I hope your faction doesn't change their decision to make this compound a safe house."

"Our decisions are not easily unmade. What about Peter?" Four raised an eyebrow at her, surprised she would assume he was going with them.

"You'll have to deal with him separately, he won't be coming with us." Four stared at Johanna with a fierce look in his eyes, letting her know how he felt about Peter.

He grabs Tris' hand and begins to leave the room as he quietly hears Johanna say, "Four, if you and your friends would like to remain untouched by the serum, avoid the bread."

He thanks her and leads Tris out, heading back to his room, trying to ignore her as she hums and skips along behind him. He hopes this serum wears off fast, he doesn't know how much more of this he can take.


	7. Chapter 7: Discovered

Four took a detour and ended up locking Tris in her room, unable to stand the thought of having her in his room while she was like this. He had to peel her off from him as he exited the room, heading toward the dining hall to get some food.

"Stay away from your sister right now, she is hopped up on peace serum," he said to Caleb as he sat down with his food. Caleb's face lit up and Four knew he would be interested in studying Tris.

"Before you get any ideas, she needs to be left alone. Seriously, just let her be for right now. You can study someone else, just find anyone eating the bread." Caleb stared at him, "They are putting it in the bread? That's fascinating, the dose must be just enough to keep everyone calm without anyone noticing it if it wears off. That must take some precise calculations. I wonder if they would let me look at their math?" Caleb wanders off and Four sighs, realizing that both Priors are a little crazy at the moment.

After he finishes eating he heads back to his room. He is getting restless and decides to go for a jog around the orchards. He takes a few laps to warm up and then sprints another 10 laps before cooling down. It feels good to stretch his lungs and body again, feeling the physical exertion that he always enjoyed. He notices his lungs are a little more on fire than usual, cursing the lazy habits this faction was causing him to adopt.

He finally decides to check on Tris, having given her a few hours to cool down and when he opens her door, he sees she is sitting up, alert, back to her normal self.

"Thank God," he says while pressing his forehead to the door. "I was beginning to think it would never wear off and I would have to leave you here to smell flowers or whatever you wanted to do while you were on that stuff." He chuckled when he saw her face flush with anger, she must remember every minute of it.

"I'll kill them," Tris says. Four laughs again as he closes the door. "Don't bother, we'll be leaving soon anyway. I thought we could hide this behind your dresser." He removes the hard drive from his pocket.

"That's where it was before." She looks at him skeptically as if he said something stupid, she was still reeling from being on the serum, her brain not understanding why.

"Exactly, that's why Peter won't look here again." He places the disk behind the dresser and then sits down next to her. He can feel the question form in her mind, seeing the worry cross her face.

"Why couldn't I fight off that serum? If my brain was weird enough to resist the simulations, why not this?" Four took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He had been wondering the same thing during his run and hoped she would have the answer to that question.

"I honestly don't know. Maybe in order to fight off a serum, you have to _want_ to." He felt her anger flash quickly, knowing she misunderstood what he meant.

"Well _obviously_ I wanted to." He saw she noticed the lack of conviction in her voice just as he did. She had been through so much, was it so hard to believe she wanted an escape for a few hours?

He placed his arm around her and felt her melt into him, breathing in his scent. "Sometimes, people just want to be happy, even if it's fake." She nodded in agreement and slid further into his arms. He saw her face become thoughtful and just enjoyed the silence. This was a rare peace they had and he wasn't going to disturb it.

"You are right," Tris breathed and Four was shocked. She never agreed or gave in like this.

"You're conceding? Seems like that serum did some good after all." Tris shoved his chest while she let out a light laugh, "You take that back Tobias! Take it back now!"

He put up his hands in defense and gave in, "Alright, it's just, I'm not very nice either you know. That's why I like you-"

She threw her arms up and pointed at the door, "Out now!" They were both laughing as Four kissed her cheek and got up to leave. He turned around and gave her one last smile and as he left he knew he didn't belong with anyone else.

Tris didn't show for dinner that night and he knew she was a little embarrassed about her behavior from the serum. He was sitting with Caleb, Peter, and Susan. They were talking and eating when Four saw the doors of the dining hall thrown open and Tris came bolting through. She reached his side breathless and he grabbed her good shoulder, attempting to stabilize her.

"Erudite," she managed to squeeze out between breaths. Four stiffened, "Coming here?" She nods and he feels his stomach drop, knowing this is not good for them.

He tries to think of a way out of this situation, they should have left last night. Damn the Amity for giving Tris that serum, they could have been safely out of here. "Do we have time to run?" he asks Tris. She shrugs her shoulders as panic begins to set in on her face.

Four can feel the other Abnegation focusing on the conversation as they gather around them. He can't worry about them, his only focus is on keeping Tris out of Erudite hands. Susan was the one who spoke up first, "Why do we need to run? This is an established safe house, there isn't any conflict allowed."

Before Four can speak up, Marcus jumped in. "The Amity will have trouble enforcing that policy. How do you stop conflict without conflict?" Susan nodded along and Peter chimed in, "But we can't leave, we don't have time. They'll see us."

Four finally spoke up, not wanting to reveal his secret but realizing this is the time, "Tris has a gun, We can try to fight our way out." Just as he was headed to get the gun, Tris stopped him.

"Wait, I have an idea. Disguises. The Erudite don't know for sure that we're still here, we can pretend to be Amity." Four surged with pride at Tris' ability to solve problems so quickly but he saw something in her eyes when he said the word gun and he again wondered what happened that day of the assault.

"Those of us not dressed like them should go to the dorms, the rest of you put your hair down and mimic their behavior." Marcus took charge as Abnegation split up and attempted to blend in. Four saw Tris head to her dorm and assumed she was going to change. He headed back to his room, changed and helped the others get rid of their clothing. He sees Tris come out of her room still wearing her father's shirt. Before he can, Caleb offers to hide it under his shirt.

She comes over to him, "Do you think the Amity will lie for us?" Her face is filled with concern, understanding the Erudite would be after them the most. "To prevent conflict, absolutely." He feels out of place in these bright clothes and hopes the shirt covers his tattoos enough. This is the only time he has regretted them, wondering if they will endanger Tris' life. They quickly slip back into the building as they see the Erudite pull up to the compound.

Four grabs Tris' hand and leads her into the dormitory. He notices the Dauntless with Erudite have blue bands around their arms, showing their allegiance to Erudite. "I didn't think our faction would be that stupid. Do you have the gun?" Four asks Tris.

"Yes, but there is no guarantee I can fire it accurately with my left hand." Four realizes how stupid they were to be so complacent while here, they should have been training Tris' other arm to do the work for her.

"You should work on that." He felt the instructor bubble up inside of him, cursing himself for not thinking of it earlier. Tris lets out a shaky breath, "I will if we live." Four squeezed her hand tighter, unable to think of a world where Tris wasn't alive.

He rubs her arms with his hands, trying to reassure her. "Just bounce a little when you walk and pretend you are afraid of guns and act like a shrinking violet you could never be and we'll be fine." The whole time while saying this he was kissing her face, hands, forehead in an attempt to show the open affection Amity are comfortable with as well as get in as many last touches as possible in case something bad happened.

Tris' trembling hands grab his shirt and pull him down to kiss her, Four's body surging at the contact. She murmurs, "Okay," into his lips before they hear the bell calling them to the dining hall.

As they walk, Four notices Tris pulling pins from Susan's hair making her blend in more. Four sees the Abnegation banding together, supporting each other, and he remembers that selflessness requires a lot of bravery. Tris is commenting on people looking too stiff and has the kids run and play. Four's hands begin to sweat at the thought of Erudite being this close to Tris, mapping out all the exits in his mind in case they have to run. Four notices Tris bouncing more and swinging their joined hands, reminding him of when she was on the peace serum. This time it is necessary though, he needs her to be like this to keep them alive.

As they enter the dining hall, they melt into the Amity who accept them graciously. Four feels Tris begin to panic at the sight of the Dauntless traitors but thankfully Susan steps in and calms her down. They sit down, Four across from Tris, and watch Johanna walk in with the Erudite woman. Suddenly the room gets quiet, waiting to someone to speak.

"Our Erudite and Dauntless friends are looking for some people. Several members of Abnegation, three members of Dauntless, and a former Erudite initiate. In interest of full cooperation, I told them that the people they were looking for were here but have moved on. They would like permission to search the premises, does anyone object?" Four could hear the tension in her voice and prayed no one objected.

The woman turned to the Dauntless, "Three of you stay here, the rest of you search the buildings and report back what you find." Four sees Tris' face pale and is worrying just like she is. Will they find anything in their rooms that are suspicious? Did he remember to get rid of all of his clothes? It was too late now but he felt his breathing begin to become rapid.

Four sees Tris glance his way and realizes he is sitting too straight, to stiff for an Amity. Before he can relax, a Dauntless woman heads toward them. He worries about his tattoos, his hair, his muscles as he sees her approach.

"You hair is pretty short for an Amity," she says. "It's hot," he replies quickly, trying to keep his breathing from becoming faster. He realizes too late he snapped at her, the way he would if anyone questioned him during initiation, the instructor in him is too dominant.

He sees her hand stretch toward him and yank down the collar of his shirt, displaying his tattoos. With that one movement, it sets him off, his need to protect Tris the only thing on his mind.

He grabs the woman's wrist, yanks her forward, causing her to lose her balance. He hears a gun go off and the screaming begins. '_Just get Tris out alive, keep your focus,'_ Four thinks. He watches everyone dive under the table except for Tris, she is sitting there in complete shock. Her eyes glaze over and he realizes she is reliving the attack.

Four's focus snaps back to the Dauntless woman and wrenches her to her feet. He uses her as a shield as he fires back at the Dauntless near the door. He is waiting for Tris to react, defend herself but she just sits there as if she was never trained.

"Tris! A little help here!" He sees her reach for the gun but her hands snaps away from it, fear crossing her face. Four's stomach drops as he watches a Dauntless soldier aim his gun at her, Tris still frozen on the bench. Out of no where, Four sees Caleb launch himself at the gun, aiming at the Dauntless man. He hears the gun go off and watches the man crumple to the ground holding his leg.

Four has to ignore Tris for the moment, wondering what has gotten into her. He turns his attention back to the woman, "Say another word and I'll shoot." He then turns to the group, "Whoever is with us should start running." As the Abnegation rise from their seats, Four watches the Erudite woman raise a pistol and aim it an an Amity man who stood up with them.

Before he can yell a warning he sees Tris launch her body to save the man, shoving him out of the way of the bullet. When the man stands up, Four realizes Tris just saved Peter's life and wonders how the world has become so turned around. He directs his attention at the Erudite woman, "Put the gun down, I have very good aim and I'm betting you don't." He watches her survey the scene and finally drop her gun.

Four needs to get the group out of here immediately. They move forward, Tris in front of him with Peter. When they reach the doors, they sprint through the trees as fast as they can. Four reaches Tris and grabs her hand, so thankful they are safe. He hears someone yell "split up!" as they reach the cornfield. Tris grabs onto Caleb and drags him with them. Gunshots rain out but all Four is concentrating on is getting Tris out of this field.

As they reach the fence, Four finds a hole and holds it back so Caleb, Susan, and Tris can climb through. Susan asks where the others are but Four doesn't care. He pulls Tris into his side, thankful she is safe. They head back toward the city, staying away from the road until Susan can walk no longer.

As they calm down, he turns his attention to Tris. He has never seen her freeze up like that, fear never affected her that way. He needs answers now. He has to know she is going to keep herself safe while he is trying to protect her.

"Tris, what was that?" She stares at him, her eyes full of emotion as she asks, "What?" Four has no idea where this weak girl has come from, he has never heard Tris sound like that.

"You froze! Someone was about to kill you and you just sat there! I thought I could rely on you to at least save your own life!" Caleb steps in and shouts at Four, "Hey give her a break all right!" He has no understanding of what this means, the training Tris went through should have prepared her for this situation and yet she reacted this way. Four becomes furious at Caleb for defending Tris.

"No, she doesn't need a break. What happened?" He softens his voice but still feels the instructor taking over. He stares into her eyes, searching for the strength he knows is there but not finding it.

"I panicked, it won't happen again." Four doesn't believe her, knows this is part of whatever she has been keeping from him. He raises an eyebrow at her, letting her know he realizes she isn't telling the truth.

He turns to the group, "We have to get somewhere safe. They'll regroup and start looking for us. Especially us Tris, we are the ones they are after, Marcus too probably. Although he is most likely dead." Tris looks at him and he can see the question in her eyes, how can he be so nonchalant with Marcus' death?

"Tobias…" she begins but he cuts her off, not allowing any emotions into his body right now. "Time to go." He turns and walks, angry that she is keeping secrets from him, angry she doesn't trust him to help her, and angry that he does feel sadness in him at the thought of Marcus' death. He had to keep them going, one of the most important Dauntless lessons he was ever taught.


	8. Chapter 8: Reunion

**Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I started the story on my work computer and forgot to email it to myself to finish it at home. I won't be updating anymore today but tomorrow I plan on putting up a lot of chapters. This book started slow and I wasn't very motivated to work on the chapters but this is starting to get into the good part. I really want to write the chapter where Tris goes to Erudite so I may just have to update a lot of chapters this weekend! Enjoy! As always, I love your reviews, keep them coming, although it isn't necessary to send negative comments, those I don't enjoy so much :)**

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The group keeps moving, not at a pace Four would like them too, but at least they are moving. They follow the train tracks, Four walking along the rail, balancing on the thing strip of metal. He can hear the others behind him and has to remember they aren't in the same physical shape as he is, and even he is out of shape from the few days at Amity.

He hears the rumble and turns to the group and sees the train approaching behind them. Tris saw it too, "It's coming, I think we should get on," she tells the group as they step off the tracks. Four nods in agreement but Caleb speaks up, "What if it's run by Erudite?"

Four shakes his head, "If Erudite were running the train, they would have taken that to Amity instead of their cars. I think it is worth the risk, we can hide in the city, but if we stay here we might as well turn ourselves in." Four hears Caleb giving Susan directions for jumping on the train and he sees Tris tense her body, ready for the jump. The train passes them and Four and Tris take off running. Caleb jumps in, followed by Susan and then Tris. Four notices her jump onto the train isn't as smooth as it once was, realizing that shoulder is bothering her much more than she is letting on. After she pulls herself in, he grabs the handle and easily swings himself up and on.

The first thing he notices is they are not alone. As Four stands, he sees the guns trained on them and immediately whips his out, stepping slightly in front of Tris. A man steps into his line of sight, he has an eye patch and looks slightly familiar. A woman looks them up and down and says, "I've never seen Amity armed before." The man shakes his head, "These people aren't Amity. They are Dauntless."

Four recognizes that voice and realizes who it is. Edward, the initiate who got stabbed in the eye. His stomach drops, they are in much more danger than he thought, Edward was dangerous during initiation and probably still was even with one eye. Tris must have realized at the same time as Four.

"Hello Edward," she says, calmly disguising the fear in her voice with surprise. Four sees him turn toward her, "Tris." Before any more can be said the woman is speaking again, "Whoever you are, you need to get off this train if you want to stay alive." Four is confused, why are these factionless together and armed? What is happening in the city that brought them together?

Caleb speaks up trying to convince the factionless to let them stay on the train, "We are running from Erudite. If we get off it would be easier for them to catch us. We would appreciate it if we could stay on here until we reach the city." Four smirks, listening to him beg, knowing these people aren't going to give in to that. Just as he suspected, Edward spoke up.

"Yeah? What have you done for us?" Edward asks. Tris speaks up, using a better tactic than begging. "I helped you when no one else would. Remember?" Four can see Edward doesn't like being in debt to her. He has been silent so far, knowing he may not have power in this situation. Being Edward's instructor doesn't give him much bargaining power as it was because of his rankings that Edward lost his eye.

"You, maybe," Edward says to Tris, "But the others? Not so much." Four pushes down his hesitation and steps in, knowing that the name Four might not get them anywhere but the other name he carries has more power.

"My name is Tobias Eaton, I don't think you want to push me off this train." Edward's eyes open in surprise, Four realizing Edward had no idea his old instructor was a transfer and such a well known transfer at that. He didn't realize who he had on this train and Four winced slightly realizing one of his secrets was going to come out before he would have the chance to tell Tris.

"Eaton? Really? I have to admit I didn't see that coming. Fine, you can come but when we get to the city you have to come with us. We know someone who's been looking for you Tobias Eaton."

Four moves away from Edward and sits on the edge of the car, Tris joining him. She is looking at him in awe, confused as to the power he has over this group.

"Do you know who it is?" Four nods, unable to tell her on this train. He has to make sure it is real before he tells her. A small part of him hopes but the rest of him is filled with bitterness. Bitterness toward a woman who abandoned him so long ago and up until a year ago didn't even bother to inform him she was still alive.

"Who, then?" Four looks her in the eyes, trying to convey the emotions running through him but failing. "It's hard to explain. I have a lot to tell you." He leaves it at that and is surprised when she doesn't put up a fight but leans into him. She whispers in his ear, "So do I." There is the confirmation, she has been keeping things from him. He can't get very upset since he has his own secrets but it bothers him she didn't trust him with all the events of that horrible day.

They sit in silence, Four rubbing circles into Tris' back. As they approach the city, he can see his old faction, where he used to walk when he missed the bus home from school. As they approach their exit point, all four of them are standing by the door. Four can hear Susan whimpering and he wonders how someone can be so weak, allow fear to take over, until he remembers she wasn't trained in Dauntless.

"What if we get hurt?" she asks Tris. Tris, always the brave one, grabs her hand and reassures her. "We'll jump together. You and me. I've done this a dozen times and never got hurt. On three. One, two, three!" They exit the train, Four watching her hang in midair for a moment before colliding with the ground but staying on her feet. Susan falls to the ground but seems all right. As Four jumps and lands off the train, he sees Tris staring at him with a question on her face. He knows he should tell her now before they get there but again he can't find the words.

He walks over to her and examines her shoulder instead. "It's been a while since I've checked that shoulder, how is it?" She smiles back at him, "Okay. I brought the pain medicine with me luckily. I don't think I'm letting it heal very well. I keep using my arm or landing on it."

"There will be plenty of time for healing once this is all over." He hopes it is over soon and he and Tris can find a place to stay safe and remove themselves from this war. He just wants to be with her and forget all this conflict.

"Yeah," she agrees with him. He hears the tone in her voice and realizes she thinks they aren't going to make it. She refuses to touch a gun, so instead Four hands her a knife.

"Here, just in case." They walk them down the street and Four's breathing becomes rapid as they approach the main building. He wonders if she is in there and how she will react to seeing him. They enter the building and Four realizes it is filled with people. He had no idea she had this many people on her side. Edward led them through the building toward a back room. Four grabbed Tris' hand and gave it a squeeze trying to apologize for everything she was about to discover.

He hears her blurt out, "What is going on? Why are you all together like this?" Edward turns at smirks at her, "You thought they-we-were all split up? Well they were for a while. Too hungry to do anything except look for food but then your old faction started giving them food, clothing, tools, everything. They got stronger and waited. This is how I found them."

They continued through the dark hallways and he could feel Tris' eyes on him. He kept his forward, not wanting to meet hers and have her see the lies in them. Caleb spoke up, commenting on Edward's statement.

"Wait, you said they were waiting? What were they waiting for exactly?" Edward laughed and said, "For the world to fall apart and now it has."

They entered a room with another woman who Edward sent away after telling the woman his name. He felt Tris tense again but they were too far in to explain now. She would just have to see his deceit in the flesh. When the door opened, he sees her and he was immediately taken back to his childhood when they would go for walks, eat a quick meal together before Marcus got home, or console on another after the latest beating. He felt anger rise up in him and realized he had no parents, in a different way than Tris, but in reality neither of his parents had ever loved him. One abandoned him and the other beat him.

He grabbed Tris' hand just as he heard her gasp. He knew she analyzed the woman and saw the resemblance, his nose matched hers as well as his chin and ears. He wished he could have told her but he never thought he would ever see this woman again. Before the attacks, he never had any intentions of meeting up with her or trying to find her, she wasn't his mother in his eyes, his mother died many years ago.

"Evelyn," he said, his voice shaking. He felt Tris loosen her grip on his hand and he hoped it wasn't due to any feelings of betrayal. Evelyn turned toward them, her eyes cold and calculating.

"Hello, you look older." After all these years that's all she can say to him? After leaving him with Marcus to be beat and tortured, she can't find something better to say. He wondered if all the tender moments he remembers were all a lie, an act, to keep up appearances before she left.

"Well, the passage of time tends to do that to a person," Four spit at her. Evelyn smiled at him but not for the reason of him being her son but that she thought he finally came to join her, "So you've finally come-"

Four cut her off, "Not for that reason. We were running from Erudite and the only chance of escape we had required me to tell your poorly armed lackeys my name." Four felt the anger slide over his body, taking control of his muscles and thoughts. He wanted to say so many things to her, do so many things to her but he held back. He assumed the soldiers would shoot if he tried anything. The worst was that Tris was next to him having just lost both her parents and Four had used his mother's death to help comfort her. He hated that he had lied to her but in reality, the mother he knew and loved, did die that day. This woman was not the same person.

Evelyn's eyes went cold again, Four realized the smile was only for the idea that her son had finally joined her, but he wasn't her son. "Well introduce me to your fellow refugees then." He notices her eyes linger on his hand joined with Tris' and he lets go quickly. He doesn't want her to be able to use anything against him and his relationship with Tris would make him do anything if it meant saving her.

He turns to the group, "This is Tris Prior, her brother Caleb, and their friend Susan Black." Evelyn's eyes slide over each of them, Four can see her assessing whether they were a threat or not. "Prior, I know of several Priors but none with your name. I remember a Beatrice…" She stares Tris down and Tris responds with the fire Four has been waiting to see from her.

"Well I know several living Eatons and none of them are named Evelyn." Tris holds her eyes as Four takes a deep breath. He doesn't like that Tris may have Evelyn as an enemy, the same feeling he got when she met Marcus.

"Evelyn Johnson is the name I prefer, especially among Abnegation." Tris squares her shoulders, "Well I prefer Tris and we aren't Abnegation, not all of us anyway."

He feels Evelyn turn back to him, "Interesting friends you have made." Suddenly Caleb interrupts, asking questions about the population, maps and safe houses. Evelyn turns and raises an eyebrow and Four realizes it is the same expression he uses, he reminds himself to try to stop using it. He got rid of all the habits that tied him to Marcus, he may as well start on the ones that tie him to Evelyn.

Evelyn is gesturing them to leave the room and he sees she deliberately lets the others go in front of them to get close to him. She whispers in his ear as they walk, "I'm not stupid. I know you want nothing to do with me. I still don't understand why."

Four can't hold it in, he snorts in derision. His mother ignores it and continues, "I will extend my invitation again, we could use your help. I know you are like minded about the faction system-" He can't take it anymore.

"Evelyn, I chose Dauntless." He stares her down, daring her to continue. "Choices can be made again," she says to him. Four's anger takes over, "What makes you think I want to spend any time with you?" He sees Tris up ahead slow down, he knows she is listening in. He assumes out of curiosity and to make sure he is ok and smiles to himself.

Evelyn responds with the same thing Marcus has said many times to him as well, "Because I am your mother." Her voice breaks but at this point Four assumes she is a great actress, all those years of her loving embraces and kind words were all fake just as this is now.

He squares his shoulders, stands tall, and sets a hard expression on his face just as he did during initiation. "You don't get it to you. You don't have the vaguest conception of what you've done to me. I don't want to join up with your little band of factionless, I want to get out of here as quickly as possible." He can feel the anger taking control of his breathing, it was coming out in short rapid spurts.

Evelyn matches his stance even though she can't match his height. "My little band of factionless is larger than Dauntless, twice the size. You would do well to take it seriously as we may determine the future of this city." She pushes past him and past Tris. He sees Tris' eyes become large from the news of how many fationless there are. She approaches him with concern in her eyes as well as anger.

"How long have you known?" He has been dreading that question, not wanting to admit he has lied to her for so long.

"About a year, she sent me a message last year to meet her at a train yard. I did, only out of curiosity, and there she was. I was so angry she was alive it wasn't a happy reunion."

"Why did she leave Abnegation?" He saw some of the anger dissolve in her eyes, hoping she realized he only kept it from her because he hated this woman as much as the man she left him with

"She had an affair, and no wonder as Marcus was…well you know. Anyway, let's just say Marcus wasn't any nicer to her than me."

Tris stepped closer, emotions controlling her voice, "Is that why you are angry with her? Because she was unfaithful to him?"

Four sharply replied, "No, that's no why." He saw Tris approach him very slowly, as if he would be set off at any moment. She asked quietly, "Then why?"

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her, well aware of the tears starting to form. "I get that she had to leave him, but she didn't even think of taking me with her, why?"

He saw realization in Tris' eyes and she slowly nodded her head. "Oh, she left you with him." He could see Tris was picturing what he probably went through and he had to look away from her. She had pity in her eyes and he hated when people pitied him. She grabs his hand and moves closer to him, allowing the silence to comfort him as well as her presence. His heart swells at the thought of her being on his side.

"It seems to me that the factionless are better friends than enemies." She nods her head but responds with the analysis he holds so dearly, "Yes but what would the cost of that friendship be?" Four shakes his head, not wanting to imagine what they will have to do to stay on Evelyn's good side. "I don't know, but we may not have any other option."


	9. Chapter 9: Plans

Four was still upset over Evelyn's assumption he had come to join her. He had no idea how she didn't realize what she did was wrong on so many levels. He settled in next to Tris as he watched food in cans being passed around the circle. This way of eating disgusted him, wondering how many diseases were spread this way. He was half listening to Edward drill Tris on transferring. He found himself staring into fire, lost in thought until Tris handed him the can.

The conversation continues without him until he hears them begin to talk about initiations. He knows that Dauntless process was always under a little scrutiny for it's intensity but they were the city's protectors, it needed to be harsh. As he turns toward the conversation, he hears them reference the part of Dauntless that always bothered him.

"Well, yeah. You've got one of the worst initiations and there's the whole old-age thing." Tris asks about this, not having been in Dauntless long enough to witness the archaic practices regarding the older generation of Dauntless. Tris turned to him with questions in her eyes, he is glad to see that fire returning. Whatever happened to her over this past week seemed to be loosening its' grip on her.

"Old age thing?" she looked at him for answers. Four turns to her, "Once the Dauntless reach a certain level of physical deterioration, they are asked to leave. In one way or another." Tris hardens her stare, "What's the other way?" He grimaces slightly, not wanting to get into something as heavy as this right now. Unfortunately when Tris set her mind to something, she usually got the answers she wanted. He would rather be the one to tell her.

"Let's just say that for some, death is preferable to factionlessness." He wanted to continue this conversation alone but Edward jumped in before he could ask her to step outside. He had so much he wanted to tell her but couldn't with all these ears listening in.

Edward sneered at his last comment, "Those people are idiots. I'd rather be factionless than Dauntless." Four was having problems trusting Edward, he had a dangerous undertone that was unsettling.

"How fortunate you ended up where you did then." Four was very glad this person was not a member of Dauntless; he was too dangerous. Edward glared at him, "Fortunate? I am so fortunate with my one eye and all."

"I seem to recall you provoked that attack, I'm sure they are just rumors." Four stared right back at him, letting Edward know just how dangerous he was to mess with. This remark surprised Tris and she spoke up before anyone could say anything.

"What are you talking about? He was winning, that's all and Peter was jealous….."she stopped mid-sentence and Four followed her eyes to meet up with Edward's smirk. Tris never saw the true Edward like Four did during initiation. He saw the danger from the start, the hunger behind his calm exterior.

"There was an inciting incident in which Peter didn't come out the victor but it didn't warrant a butter knife to the eye," Edward said.

Four laughed, "No arguments there. If it makes you feel any better he got shot in the arm from a foot away during the attack." He sees Edward smirk, clearly happy at the news.

"Who did that? You?" This time Four couldn't take credit and was happy to give it to the person who deserved it. That seemed so long ago, a different Tris than the one that sat in front of him. She was coming around but he could still see the hang up in her eyes, the hesitation toward violence in any way.

"No. It was Tris," Four said proudly and he saw Edward turns to her surprised, Four realizes Edward never saw her at her most dangerous point. Edward was factionless before he could see the threat of that tiny Abnegation girl sitting before him. Four glances at her as well and watches her face turn, not with pride, but with revulsion. He feels so lost, how does he pull her out of this? The strength seems to have been pulled out of her and he has no idea how to help her get it back.

Four turns the attention off from her, "Do you know must about how things are right now? Did all the Dauntless side with Erudite? Has Candor done anything?"

Edward turned back to him as well, "Dauntless split in half. Half at Erudite headquarters and half at Candor. What's left of Abnegation is with us but nothing much as happened yet, except for what happened to you I guess." Four lets out the breath he realized he had been holding in since that awful day. His worries that his friends were now Erudite lackeys were removed, but only slightly. He wasn't sure what side they were on but hoped they made the right choice.

Four stands up to find a spot for him and Tris to lie down for the night. He wanted it to be as private as possible but that word didn't hold much strength here. He walks her over to their sleeping pallet and blankets. He takes off his shoes and feels her wrap her arms around him. They haven't had this type of contact in so long, his body craving her touch. He feels her brush her hands across his tattoos. He hadn't given much thought to those in the past week. He remembers the day he got those, wanting to define himself by more than one category but that all seems silly now. The factions were all but lost and his back was covered in the remains of a broken system.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, putting away the dark ones to enjoy the feeling of Tris' touch. He was glad the lights were low as he melted into her hands running across his back. He turns and whispers in her ear, "I wish we were alone."

She sighs and responds, "I almost always wish that." He smiles as he wraps his arms around her, pulling her down with him. He feels himself being pulled down into the sleep his body has been craving, enjoying the feeling of Tris being in his arms again.

* * *

He is awoken later from his sleep by a tap on his shoulder. If Tris wasn't in his arms, he would have jumped up swinging but instead he just reaches for his gun until a hand stops him. He looks up and sees Evelyn gesture to him to follow her. He slowly removes himself from Tris' arms, making sure she isn't woken up and slips out of the room.

"What?" he folds his arms and steps away, putting as much space as possible between the two of them.

Evelyn turns toward him, "Let's try to put this aside why don't we? There are bigger issues."

"You'll have to tell me what's going on here if you expect me to consider helping you. Though I'm still not sure why you need me at all."

She grabs her head, twisting her hands in her hair, Four waits for her to respond. "What would you like to know exactly?" He thinks of all the questions buzzing through his head, he has so many he would like to ask but focusing on the present, nothing good could come from dredging up the past.

"Tell me about the chart. And the map." He saw her stiffen, realizing she wasn't going to give her secrets up easily.

"Your friend was correct in thinking that the map and the chart listed all of our safe houses. He was wrong about the population counts…well sort of. The numbers don't document all the factionless, only certain ones. And I'll bet you can guess which ones those are." She wanted control and he had been through too much to give it to her. He wouldn't play her games.

"I'm not in the mood for guessing," Four standing firm.

She sighs, answering her own question. "The Divergent. We're documenting the Divergent." Four heard so much more than her answer. She was just as nervous about the Divergent at Jeanine but maybe in a different way. He didn't know why she was hunting them but he had to figure it out to protect Tris.

"How do you know who they are?" He didn't expect her to answer so her quick response surprised him.

"Before the attack, part of the Abnegation aid effort involved testing the factionless for a certain genetic anomaly. Sometimes that testing involved re-administering the aptitude test but sometimes it was more complicated than that. They explained to us that they suspected we might have the highest Divergent population of any group."

Four felt her drive, desire to find the Divergent. Her interest in them made her nervous. Did she know he was one? Tris? What was her reason for finding them?

"I don't understand. Why?"

"Why would the factionless have a high Divergent population? Obviously those who can't define themselves in a particular way of thinking would be most likely to leave a faction or fail it's initiation, right?" She was smirking at him as if she just revealed a major concept.

"That's not what I was going to ask. Why are you so concerned with the Divergent?" He thought about trying to subtly find this out but subtly was never his strong point, Tris was better at manipulating people, he wished she was at his side right now.

"The Erudite are looking for manpower. They found it temporarily in Dauntless but now they need more. We're the obvious place unless they figure out we've got more Divergent than any other group. Just in case they don't, I want to know how many people we've got who are resistant to the simulation."

Four nodded along, accepting her answer but knowing there was more. He realized he may have to try to get closer to her to find that answer. He would have to take it slow, make her believe he was trusting her.

"Fair enough. Why were the Abnegation so concerned with finding the Divergent? It wasn't to help Jeanine, was it?"

"No of course not, but I'm afraid I don't know. The Abnegation were reluctant to provide information that only serves to relieve curiosity. They told us as much as they believed we should know."

Four realized the Abnegation were probably just as suspicious of Evelyn as he was. "Strange," he mumbled, his thoughts racing out of control. Tris was the only one he knew that could sort through the mess in his head and he wished she was by his side. He felt like so many things were coming in between them and now this. He should have woken her up and brought her in here but his concern for her rest and recovery were much greater.

"Perhaps you should ask your father about it, he was the one who told me about you."

Four looked up at her in surprise, pulling him from his thoughts, that answered his question of whether she knew about him or not. He hoped she didn't know about Tris, he decided to play stupid. "What about me?"

"That he was surprised you were Divergent." The breath left his body, aware that his position just became a little more delicate as well as Tris'. He kept his face neutral, hiding the fear that was slowly inching its' way through his body.

Evelyn continued, "He was always watching you, noting your behavior. He was very attentive to you, that's why….That's why I thought you would be safe with him. Safer with him than me." Four bit down the anger that replaced the fear like a flash of fire. The fact that she thought he would be safer with her after watching him get beat and whipped caused him to see red. He realized saying nothing was better than anything crossing his mind right now.

She kept talking, "I see now that I must have been wrong." He still couldn't find words so he stayed silent, clenching his jaw to keep from saying the words flashing through his mind.

"I wish-" she starts but he can't let her finish.

"Don't you dare apologize, this is not something you can bandage with a word or two and some hugging." It was the best he could do while looking at the woman who claimed to love him but abandoned him in his greatest hour of need.

"Okay, I won't." And there it was again, her giving up on him instead of fighting for him. He realized he was still that young boy listening to his father tell him his mother was dead. He flashed forward to the moment he met her, saw her alive for the first time in years and realized she left him behind. All the emotions coursing through made his head pound, his thoughts swirl. How had two people messed him up so badly?

He moved past it, wanting to figure out her master plan so he could take her down. "For what purpose are the factionless uniting? What do you intend to do?"

"We want to usurp Erudite and after getting rid of them, we will control the government ourselves."

There it was, her master plan. She wanted his expertise in the system, his military background. In that second, he decided to join her, so he could watch her fall. He knew revenge wouldn't get him very far most of the time but this was the only way to show her how little she meant to him. He was going to have to be cunning, not give in two quickly. Evelyn was good at reading people and he would have to make her believe his act.

"That's what you expect me to help you with. Overthrowing one corrupt government and instating some kind of factionless tyranny. Not a chance." He turned away, making her believe he wasn't on her side. He wanted her to reveal more of her plan before he took her down.

"We don't want to be tyrants. We want to establish a new society, one without factions." There it was, the end all to her master plan. He just had to keep in sight why he was doing this and he would finally be able to repay her for abandoning him.

He let out a laugh, "Right. So how are you going to usurp Erudite?"

"Sometimes drastic change requires drastic measures. I imagine it will involve a high level of destruction." She was eating him up now, he could see the greed in her eyes and satisfaction that he was slowly coming around to her. She was giving him more and more information as they continued. The word destruction was unsettling to him, he felt his stomach drop at the look in her eyes when she said that word.

She continued, "As for why we need you, in order to do this we need Dauntless' help. They have the weapons and the combat experience. You could bridge the gap between us and them." Something broke inside of him. He didn't realize he was hoping to hear her say she wanted him because he was her son until that moment when she didn't say it but that was a pipe dream.

"Do you think I'm important to Dauntless? Because I'm not, I'm just someone who isn't afraid of much." If only he was important to her, but he got rid of that thought immediately, he had to get over his desire to please her and move on.

"What I am suggesting is that you become important. I'm sure you can find a way if you want to. Think about it. The door is always open." She was testing him and he planned on passing. He wanted to get her on his side.

He nodded and left the room, joining Tris back on the pallet. He could tell she was awake and wanted to tell her everything but couldn't with Evelyn so close by. He made a promise to himself to tell her everything as soon as he could. He needed her mind on this, her help to figure out a plan on how to make sure Evelyn's plan did not come to fruition.

He was so exhausted he fell asleep before he could even kiss her which was all he wanted to do during the entire conversation with Evelyn.


	10. Chapter 10: Arrest

Four woke up to stiff shoulders and a cold space where Tris had been. He hoped she just went to the bathroom and nothing else was happening with her. He stood up and wandered through the houses that were connected together. He saw so many factionless sleeping or eating breakfast, he was still surprised at the sheer number of them.

As he was wandering around he heard voices and recognized one of them at Tris'. The other voice was Evelyn's and he crept closer to listen to their conversation. He heard Evelyn talking about Tris' father and wanted to jump in to stop her but waited to see how Tris would handle it.

"I'm sorry Beatrice, I didn't mean to reopen closing wounds." He heard the false sincerity in Evelyn's voice and knew it wouldn't get past Tris. Just as he suspected, she knew exactly how Evelyn was trying to manipulate her and didn't put up with it. A smile crossed his face at the bite that was in Tris' voice.

"Yes you did Evelyn. Listen carefully, I'm not stupid. I can see that you are trying to use him and I'll tell him, don't doubt me, although I'm sure he's figured it out already." He heard Evelyn move and assumed she was stepping closer to Tris to intimidate her with her height, little did she know Tris wasn't intimidated by much.

"My dear girl," Evelyn said, "I am his family. I am permanent. You are only temporary." Four turned and walked away, wondering at what point Evelyn assumed she was permanent in his life. He didn't see her as family, he hadn't in years and especially not since he found out she abandoned him. Four walked slowly outside for a while to clear his head, trying to figure out if he should tell Tris what he heard and reassure her she was permanent in his life. He had no idea how they got to this place, so many secrets being kept on both sides.

He finally wandered back toward the house and took a shower. He found a black shirt, unable to wear that Amity one any longer. He had worn black for two years of his life and any other color seemed ridiculous. He also liked how black let him blend into his surroundings better. He decided it was time to find Tris and as he exited the bathroom, he saw her across the room. His eyes met with hers and his mind flashed back to the first day he saw them. The grey eyes piercing his the same way as he lifted her from the net, it seemed like a lifetime ago. He wanted that simple life back, wanted to grab her and run back to the compound and tuck themselves away where no one could find or hurt them.

She joined him at the doors and he turns to her, "Here we go," he says as he grabs her hand and walks out of the compound, toward Candor. He still hasn't told her about the conversation he had with Evelyn last night and he isn't sure when he can. He wants to tell her it all but doesn't want anyone to over hear. He plans on finding a way to bring Evelyn down.

They approach the Candor headquarters and pause at the large glass doors, Four unsure of what he will find behind them. He has survived so many different situations in the past week his head was spinning, unsure of who to trust. As they walk in, he notices the lobby is large, covered in black and white, and sees the Dauntless guards standing around. Immediately he regrets entering without surveilling it first.

The guards notice both of them enter and a girl walks over to them, pointing her gun at Four's chest. He realizes she wasn't young enough to recognize him but he's glad he wore black.

"Identify yourselves," she says roughly while training the gun at both of them. Four makes sure it is centered on him and not Tris. He can see the other guards behind the girl recognize him, he was somewhat famous in Dauntless but not enough to be welcomed very warmly here apparently.

"My name is Four. This is Tris, we are both Dauntless." The names must have been something they were waiting for because as he says them, her eyes widen and she turns to the others. "Some help here?" Four isn't sure what is happening until they are surrounded and he realizes they were probably said to be dangerous to the other Dauntless.

"Is there a problem?" he asks. He can't defend both he and Tris against this many as he knows Tris won't touch a gun.

"Are you armed?" the girl asks and Four laughs. What type of question is that, especially coming from a fellow Dauntless. He was always armed as they were taught in training.

"Of course I'm armed. I'm Dauntless aren't I?" She glares back at him. She did not like being mocked.

"Stand with your hands behind your head." She yells it at them as if they are going to fight them. Four wonders who this girl was, she seemed too dumb to be Dauntless. He assumes she is just nervous and trying to put on a false front.

"We walked through the front door, you think we would have done that if we were here to hurt you?" Tris snaps. Four wants to grab her and tell her to be quiet but he can't move without provoking these people so he just taps the back of his head with his fingertips hoping she will see he wants her to follow directions. They have to cooperate and go along with these Dauntless and find a way to escape later. He was so foolish to bring Tris here without knowing what side they were on. His need to get away from Evelyn blinded his judgment and he just hoped Tris didn't suffer for it.

She must have done it because he feels a Dauntless soldier pat down his legs as he removes the gun tucked in his waistband. He sees another boy approach Tris and gives the boy a stern look as he passes, conveying to him if he puts his hands on her inappropriately that will be the last time he uses those hands. The boy must have gotten the message because he hears him squeak to Tris, "I'm sorry."

Tris also warns him, "I have a knife in my back pocket. Put your hands on me the wrong way and you will regret it." Four smirks, loving the fire that has reentered Tris' body. He wondered who would get to the boy faster, him or Tris? Before he can imagine that scenario, he realizes they are being led somewhere. Four needs to know where they are going and what is going to happen to them. He assumes they won't tell him but it's worth a shot.

"What's happening?

The first soldier looks at the others before answering, "We were instructed to arrest you upon your arrival." Four's stomach drops, assuming the worst.


	11. Chapter 11: Secrets

Four watches as they lead the two of them toward the Elevator and assumes it's a good sign they don't handcuff them. He hears Tris asks multiple times why they were under arrest and his mind screamed to grab her and comfort her but he guessed that wouldn't be allowed. She eventually gave up and took his lead and stayed silent.

They are ushered into a small room and heard the door lock behind them. Four sits down on the bench, his body overwhelmed with emotion. Not a single thought is of his own well being but entirely focused on Tris' safety. She moves toward him and begins pacing. Her steps distract him from thinking through the reason why they are in here. The silence is only broken by her footsteps leading her back and forth.

Four thinks through everything they had done in the past week to try to find something they would be arrested for. Obviously they disappeared for a week, that may seem suspicious, and they were with the factionless last night but there is no way Candor could know about that. He had no idea why they were here, what they could have done to cause the Dauntless to be so careful around them, especially him. He knew he was dangerous in the eyes of most from his training and fears but not enough to warrant this.

Finally he can't take her pacing anymore, it was just causing his pulse to become more rapid, "Can you please calm down? You are making me nervous."

"This _is_ calming me down Four." He leans forward at her comment, trying not to focus on her footsteps but unable to drown it out. He glances at her face and realizes she is about to bite her lip off.

"The wound in your lip begs to differ," he says as she stops pacing. She sits down next to him and pulls her knees to her chest. He sees her grip her body tighter and wonders why those arms weren't wound around him. Her first reaction used to be to grab him for support. He notices that isn't the case any longer and it burns in his stomach. He feels the mistrust coming from her and can't stop himself from commenting on it.

"Sometimes I wonder why you don't trust me." He realizes this is the worst time to have that serious conversation he has been craving but the pressure is causing it to happen prematurely and he is going to try anyway.

She looks at him in surprise, "I trust you, of course I do. Why would you think otherwise?" Was she not feeling this wall between them? Was it all in his mind?

"Just seems like there's something you're not telling me, I told _you_ things, that I would never have told anyone else. Something's been going on with you, though, and you haven't told me yet." He hates that his voice sounds so broken but he can't help it.

"There's been a lot going on. You know that, and anyway what about you? I could say the same thing to you." She was right and he melted, giving up all the fight, just wanting to touch her, unsure of how much longer they had together.

He touches her cheek, fingertips pushing into her hair, eyes closing at the contact. He was ignoring her question but it was just mirroring her own dismissal of his question. "If it's just about your parents, tell me and I'll believe you." He stares deep into her eyes, wanting her to feel safe and trust him again. He sees her match his look with the same fire and watches the wall slowly break down. Before she lets it go all the way, it is pushed back up, stronger than before. He knows her next words are a lie.

"That's all it is," she says quietly, covering his hands with hers. She is lying, her voice gives her away but he doesn't push it. He covers her mouth with his, putting all the emotion in his body into that kiss. He trying to convey how much he trusts her in that contact but it's short lived. Four hears the door open and breaks apart.

In the door enters a few people, some with guns, but the one person Four recognizes is Jack Kang, Candor's representative. He sees Jack's eyes assess the situation and soften slightly, Four hoping he will admit this was all a misunderstanding.

"They told me you seemed confused about why you were arrested. To me that means either you're falsely accused or good at pretending. The only-" Jack is cut off by Tris.

"What are we accused of?" she asks. Four is just as curious, what could they possibly have done besides abandon the city during the simulation?

"_He_ is accused of crimes against humanity. You are accused of being his accomplice." Four's brain jumps into overdrive, crimes against humanity? Where were these charges coming from?

"Crimes against humanity?" he asks, unable to contain the anger boiling inside of him. Were they using false charges to sentence them? He would not stand for that but wasn't sure how he would fight them.

Jack spoke again, "We saw video footage of the attack. You were _running_ the simulation." Four's stomach dropped, he knew what they saw, what it must have looked like. The others were clearly under simulation but he wasn't like the others. He looked as though he was acting of free will but he had no idea how he would get them to believe he wasn't.

"How could you have seen the footage? We took the data," he said, trying to change the direction of the conversation. Jack didn't allow it.

"You took one copy of it. All the footage recorded during the attack was also sent to the other computers throughout the city. All we saw was you running the simulation and _her_ nearly getting punched to death before she gave up. Then you stopped, had a lover's reconciliation, and stole the hard drive together. One possible answer is because the simulation was over and you didn't want us to get our hands on it."

He hears Tris laugh and realizes Jack poorly analyzed the situation. Tris saved his life that day by almost sacrificing her own. He can't let her be punished for the most self-sacrificing moment she has ever had. That moment is something he treasures and becomes angry at the thought of that being used to kill both of them.

Tris beats him to it, "The simulation didn't end, _We stopped it_, you.." Jack holds up his hand to stop her. Four wonders if they will be allowed to defend themselves as Jack begins again.

"I am not interested in what you have to say right now. The truth will come out when you are both interrogated under the influence of the truth serum." Four's stomach drops, he has too many secrets to be put under that. He assumes he would be able to fight it but isn't sure if it works the same way as the other serums.

Tris must feel the same way and Four becomes suspicious of what secrets she's keeping besides being Divergent, "Truth serum? No way!." Her reaction causes Jack to eye her closer, Four curses her temper. He has secrets too but was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

"There's something you have to hide?" Jack asks. Tris just shakes her head, finally keeping her mouth shut. "All right then, it is now noon. The interrogation will start at seven. Don't bother preparing for it, you can't withhold information while under the influence of it." He turns and walks out of the room and Four exhales.

"What a pleasant man," Four says. Tris is escorted to the bathroom and when she is brought back she lingers by the door. He realizes how different Tris looks. Her hair chopped off made her look much older as well as the mask she wears now, concealing her true feelings. He barely recognizes the girl he fell in love with during initiation. He remembers all the times he wanted to grab her and kiss her during that time, angry now at the wasted time. He remembers when she almost fell from the Ferris wheel and he grabbed her waist, feeling the electric contact with her skin for the first time. Their first kiss in the chasm and the hours they spent in his room before the scores were revealed are still he favorite, when they truly got to know each other. Four feels his body and heart longing for how things were before all this and wonders if they will ever get back to that point.

"Hungry?" he asks, noticing the strange look on her face, wondering if she is remembering their good times as well. He offers her a sandwich and she sits down, leaning her head on his shoulder. This is the first time in days she has initiated contact with him and he closes his eyes at it. They finish the food and realize there was nothing left to do but wait. Four pulls Tris down with him on the bed, lying next to her, staring at the ceiling.

"What are you afraid of saying?" he asks, hoping she will finally tell him.

"Any of it, all of it. I don't want to reveal anything." He nods to her comment and then notices her breathing evens out. She tries to pretend she is sleeping but he knows her too well. She is avoiding the question again and his heart breaks. He can't take the dishonesty and stays silent rather than fight with her.

* * *

Hours later the door opens and Four feels Tris jolt awake, having fallen asleep eventually. He hears Tris' name and sees Christina run into the room and wrap her arms around Tris. Tris cries out and at first Four stiffens at the sound and realizes Christina grabbed her bad shoulder.

"Got shot," Tris mumbles, "Shoulder, ow!" Christina jumps off from her, "Oh God! I'm so sorry!" As she steps back, Four assesses her and realizes she looks much different as well. Her hair is also chopped off and she looks gaunt, having endured a lot since they last saw her. He sees Tris' face pale at the sight of her and sighs in frustration.

Christina continues to question Tris as they are led out of the room, "You ok? I heard you were here so I asked to escort you. Did anyone tell you the news? This may not be the right time but…..Will's dead." Four watches Tris' reaction and sees it's not the surprise of learning a friend is dead, it's horror that Christina brought it up. Four's brain jumps into overdrive, wondering if this was why Tris was so quiet. Did something happen between her and Will while she was out in the streets during the attack? He watched her try to react but it was fake. She knew he was dead before Christina told her.

"I know, I saw him on the monitors in the control room. I'm sorry Christina," Tris said and now Four knew she was lying. There wasn't any chance for her to see that on the monitor and he would have remembered seeing that. She was lying, but why? He saw them flash a smile at each other but it was strained, both having changed since their last encounter.

Four stares at Tris, wanting her to look at him but she won't. He sees her shoulders stiffen and she must realize what he just figured out. What was she hiding?

Tris tries to change the subject and asks about the others, Four turns his attention to the answer, wanting to know if they were all right as well.

"Everyone is here, except for Zeke, he's with the other Dauntless." Four almost fell over. There is no way Zeke was a traitor, he wouldn't believe it. Zeke, his best friend? The man who couldn't keep his hands off a girl, the one who pushed Four to go after Tris? He refused to believe it, he must be doing it for some reason. The exit the elevator and Four is barely able to walk, the fight having gone out of him. He moves closer to Tris, needing comfort from her. He laces his fingers through hers and feels the calming sensation wash over him.

They enter the room and see Jack as well as many others. A man approaches him and Four grips Tris' hand tighter. "My name is Niles and I will be your questioner. You are going first." He was pointing at Four. He squeezes Tris' hand one more time and then releases it, his body fighting to keep the contact.

As Four walks up to the chair, he sees the needles and feels himself recoil, remembering the last time a needle was inserted in his neck. He almost killed Tris. He takes deep breaths as he feels Niles clean off his neck and then plunge the needle into the vein. He connects eyes with Tris and sees hers open in fright, clearly remembering the last time he was injected as well. He almost lost her forever then and refused to let this time be the same.

As he sat there, he felt his body being taken over by the serum, a sluggish feeling spreading throughout his body.

'_Don't reveal it all,' _ was his last thought before the questions began.


	12. Chapter 12: Honesty

**This chapter has a lot of dialogue created by Veronica Roth. I don't own it, I just borrowed it :) The only thing in this chapter that is mine is Four's reactions to the situations. I really enjoyed writing his POV for this chapter and look forward to the next ones coming up. This is such a delicate time for Four and Tris. Hope you enjoy, as always I enjoy your reviews :) **

* * *

His body feels heavy and he can barely hold it up but he connects with Tris' eyes and he straightens himself as much as possible.

Niles begins the questioning and Four is determined to fight it as much as possible. "What is your name?"

"Four." It mostly true which is why he is able to say it, he has found a loophole and hopes it works for later questions he knows are coming.

"That is a nickname, what is your real name?" Four sighs, "Tobias." He sees people react, putting two and two together without him even having to reveal his last name. He was the boy who deserted his father, the father that was accused of hitting him.

"What are the names of your parents Tobias?" Parents? He didn't have any parents, not really. He had two people that had created him but no parents. Parents loved their children, they didn't hit them or abandon them, but sadly that wasn't what this man was asking. He tries to fight it anyway.

'Why is this relevant?" Was he revealing he was Divergent? He hoped not. He knew he was showing impressive restraint against the serum but couldn't help it. These were his secrets to keep, secrets he had keep for years until Tris came along. The fact that he had told her was special and he didn't want all these people to share that with her.

"Maybe it wasn't relevant before but it is now that you resisted to answering the question. Names please." He realized Niles thought he was resisting for other reasons, not because he didn't want to give up the special connection with the girl he loved.

He gritted his teeth, "Marcus and Evelyn Eaton." He heard everyone gasp and hated the reaction. He didn't want to be associated with any of them, he hated that he could no longer hide behind the mask that was Four.

"So you are a faction transfer?"

"Yes."

"You transferred from Abnegation to Dauntless?"

Four had enough of this, what was this man trying to prove? "Yes isn't that obvious." He saw Tris bite her lip and realized he needed to calm down, this man was pushing him due to his temper at these questions. He loved Tris so much, he just wanted to kiss her but couldn't move.

"One of the purposes of this interrogation is to determine your loyalties. Why did you transfer?" The momentary calming thoughts vanished, replaced with hot anger. He glared at the man, cursing him for making him reveal all of this. He clamps his mouth shut, refusing to say what he wants to hear. Eventually the serum breaks him down, working it's way through his stubbornness and forcing his mouth to answer. He feels his breathing speed up and his head start to pound. This was private, they didn't need to know this.

Niles asked again and Four continued to struggle against it but the serum was stronger. "To protect myself, I transferred to protect myself." He told as much as he could without revealing it all. He knew it wasn't over though, Niles would continue to push until he revealed everything. All those eyes on him, he saw all the pity. He saw shock in Christina's eyes and Tris was staring intently at him, giving him strength.

"Protect yourself from what?"

"My father." He heard the room go silent. They all stared and he heard them repeat what he said under their breath. He felt sick at what Candor was doing to him, causing him to reveal so much of himself. He assumed it would continue, tearing each thing he held sacred until he had nothing left but it ended there.

"Thank you for your honesty. Is your allegiance with your current faction Tobias?" He couldn't stand that name coming from Niles' mouth. Only Tris was allowed to call him that, but he couldn't focus on that right now. The answer was already bubbling up inside of him.

"My allegiance lies with anyone who does not support the attack on Abnegation."

"Speaking of which, I think we should focus on what happened that day. What do you remember about being under the simulation?" There it was, there was no way to keep the other secret inside. He would not only endanger himself but the one person's life he valued above his. He wanted to shout to her to run, leave the city and him behind but those words wouldn't come.

"I was not under the simulation, not at first. It didn't work."

"What do you mean it didn't work?" Niles laughs at him, unable to believe what Four just said.

"One of the defining characteristics of the Divergent is that their minds are resistant to simulations. And I am Divergent so no it didn't work." He hadn't meant to say all that, but he was too far in now.

The crowd was getting loud and Niles had to stop to quiet them down. Four got a hold of himself and pushed it all down, the truths, the words, the serum, trying to clear his mind.

Niles turned back to Four, "Now when you say resistant to simulations, what do you mean?"

"Usually it means we're aware during simulations but the attack simulation was different using a different kind of serum with long range transmitters. Evidently the transmitters didn't work on Divergent at all. I awoke in my own mind that morning." He could feel it was easier to answer these questions with just facts than the emotional ones. His only focus now was to protect Tris. She was stronger than him, would be able to fight this better than he did.

"You say you weren't under simulation at first. Can you explain that?"

"I mean I was discovered by Jeanine and she injected me with the version of serum specifically designed for Divergent. I was aware during that simulation but it didn't do much good." He didn't look at Tris now, if he did he would break down and tell her all the things he had wanted to say that day but he couldn't do that in front of these people.

"The footage shows you _running_ the simulation. How exactly do you explain that?"

"When a simulation is running, your eyes still see and process the actual world but your brain no longer comprehends them. On some level, your brain still knows what you're seeing and where you are. The nature of this new simulation was that it recorded my emotional responses to outside stimuli." He closed his eyes, he was getting dangerously close to revealing his feelings for Tris. "The simulation made my enemies into friends and friends into enemies. I thought I was shutting it down, but I was actually running it."

He saw everyone nodding along with him and he sighs with relief. People wouldn't question him after this, that is the benefit of the serum. They knew he was telling the truth and he knew it was the only way to protect himself and Tris.

"Please describe what happened in the room to us."

Four stopped, how could he? Just the facts, stick to the facts. "Someone entered the room and I thought it was a soldier trying to stop me from destroying the simulation. I fought her and then she stopped. I got confused, simulation or not I would have been confused. Why would she surrender? Why didn't she just kill me?" He finds her eyes and feels his heart beat faster. He loved her so much.

Niles continues, prodding into an area Four didn't want to talk about. "I still don't understand, how she knew it would work."

Four pushed it down, pushed down his feelings for her. Just the facts. "I think my conflicted emotions confused the simulation and I heard her voice. Somehow, that enabled me to fight the simulation." His body was exhausted from giving part of the truth this whole time. It felt so heavy and he just wanted to sleep but Niles wouldn't allow it. He saw tears in her eyes, saw she was reliving that moment and emotions surged through him at the sight of her tears, forcing him to continue.

"I recognized her, finally. We went back to the control room and stopped the simulation." He took a deep breath, he did it, kept it inside.

"What is the name of this person?"

He was getting dangerously close, "Tris, Beatrice Prior."

"How did you know her?"

One breath at a time, only the facts. "I was her instructor and now we're together." _And I'm in love with her, her love saved me._ His mind screamed but he was able to keep it in.

"I have a final question. As customary among Candor, a person has to completely expose himself or herself before accepted into society. What are your deepest regrets?"

Four swallowed slowly, feeling the words bubble up inside of him. This was his final secret, one he hadn't even told her. The secret that he almost acted on until he pulled her out of the net. The secret that no longer held much value to him after meeting Tris, but it was a secret that would lead into all those emotions he was holding in so desperately.

"I regret," Tobias struggled to keep it all in, "I regret my choice."

"What choice?"

"Dauntless. I was born for Abnegation. I was planning…on leaving Dauntless and becoming factionless. But then I met _her_ and I felt like maybe I could make something more of my decision." He took a deep breath, almost letting those words escape but pushed past them, "Choosing Dauntless in order to escape my father was an act of cowardice and I regret that cowardice. It means I am not worthy of my faction. That is my regret."

First there is just silence but then he hears "Thank you for your honesty" being mumbled throughout the room. As he steps off the stage, he watches Tris step forward. He meets her eyes and lets the love he has for her shine through them, hopefully giving her strength to endure this process. Once it was over, they could find a quiet place to rest and talk and get back to where they were before all this started.

He grabs her hand and squeezes it as they pass. When he reaches the crowd, he turns back to see Tris injecting herself, not allowing anyone else to put a needle to her neck after the attack.

She answers the initial questions fine, not worrying about revealing her real name, parents, or faction transfer. He can see her pushing against it and realizes she is able to manipulate it. She is so strong.

"Tris, would you please tell us what happened the day of the attack?" Four tenses, this is it. Something happened to her that day that caused her to be this broken form of her and he was going to find out. He wished she had told him without the serum but he would take it. No matter what she said, he would help her move past it and not hold it against her for keeping secrets.

"I woke up, " she said, "and everyone was under simulation. I played along until I found Tobias."

"What happened after you and Tobias were separated?" Four leaned in closer, wanting to hear every word she was saying, but he realized she was pushing the words down. Would she keep that secret even under the serum?

"Jeanine tried to have me killed but my mother saved me. She used to be Dauntless so she knew how to use a gun." He saw her face drop and knew she was reliving her mother's death. Four wanted nothing more than to walk over and pull her into his arms, to protect her from the memory but knew she had to tell her story under the serum otherwise no one would believe her.

"She distracted the Dauntless soldiers so I could get away and they killed her." Four's heart dropped, he didn't realize she had watched her die. No wonder she was so broken, he couldn't imagine watching someone he loved die. He saw her face scrunch in determination and again wondered if there was more to that story.

She continued, "I kept running and.." She stopped, clearly fighting the serum. This was it, after her mother was killed, something happened that she didn't want to share.

"I found my brother and father and we formed a plan to destroy the simulation." Four saw her arms digging into the chair, holding back those words that she refused to let out. She smiled briefly and then saw her body sag as she continued. He listened intently, she never fully shared her side of that day with him.

"We infiltrated the Dauntless compound and my father and I went up to the control room. He fought off the Dauntless soldiers at the expense of his life and I made it to the control room and Tobias was there." She saw her father die as well? Four took a step toward her but Christina held him back, shaking her head at him. He knew if he went up there now it would seem like he was interfering, condemning Tris. He had to let her know how awful he felt for her, watching both of her parents die.

He barely heard Niles ask, "Why did you stop fighting him?" Her voice pulled him out of it, "Because I realized that one of us would have to kill the other. I didn't want to kill him."

"So you gave up?" Niles was not able to correctly analyze the situation, unaware of how deeply their feelings ran for each other, something Four was proud of himself for keeping secret. Tris became angry at the accusation.

"No! Not exactly. I remembered something I had done in my fear landscape, in Dauntless initiation. In a simulation, a woman demanded that I kill my family and I let her shoot me instead. It worked then and I thought…" He saw her struggle, he hoped against the same admission of feelings he wanted to keep private as well. There were some things only meant for the people in the relationship.

"I was so frantic that all I could think was that there was something to that. There was strength in it and I couldn't kill him so I had to try." Four saw the tears in her eyes and felt the same ones in his. He thought back to how close he was to taking her life, and how willing at that point he was to take her life. He knew it was the simulation but had no idea how he would have continued on if he had woken up to realize she was dead at his hand.

"So you were never under simulation."

"No I am Divergent."

"Just to clarify, are you telling me that you were almost murdered by the Erudite, and fought your way into the Dauntless compound, and destroyed the simulation."

"Yes."

"I think I say for everyone that you have earned the true title of Dauntless." Everyone looked at her in disbelief.

Four felt pride surge through him. No one in this room saw her as capable of doing those things, most likely due to her size. He knew different, knew that she was the most brave, daring, selfless person he had ever met. He loved her so much and was counting the seconds until she was finished. He was going to wrap her in his arms and tell her whatever secrets she had he didn't care. As long as he had her at his side, that was all that mattered. He was so lost in thought he almost missed Niles ask the most important question.

"Tris, one last question, what are you deepest regrets?

Four stiffened, not sure what he wanted to hear from her.

"I regret…" she finds his eyes and sees the emotion swirling in hers. He stares blankly back at her, unable to allow himself to feel anything until he hears the next words out of her mouth. What if it is him? What if it is becoming Dauntless? What if? What if? What if? His mind is racing but he keeps his face smooth. He hands clench his arms, turning his knuckles white. He feels Christina intently staring at her as well. Her eyes stay connected with his as he hears one word that he never expected.

"Will." She barely says it and Four strains to figure out what she meant. He realizes it the second before the says the sentence that breaks Christina next to him.

"I shot Will." She takes a deep breath and continues on, Four standing in disbelief that this is the secret she has kept from him, the reason she can't hold a gun, he feels broken that she didn't trust him with this.

"He was under simulation and I killed him. He was going to kill me but I killed him. My friend." Four thinks back to moments before and he realizes she wasn't selfless; these were acts of selfishness. She didn't kill him because she couldn't live without him, she killed Will to save herself. Tris was just as selfish as he was, Before he could think, anger filled the space that should have been filled with compassion. She kept this secret from him and he felt the trust he was holding onto so dearly snap. She didn't trust him the way he trusted, loved her.

The room responds, "Thank you for your honesty," and Tobias wishes he could say the same thing to Tris but can't find any words.


	13. Chapter 13: Broken

Four watches Tris rise from the chair and he still feels nothing, has no words in his body. He turns to see Christina still standing there, the same look of shock on her face that is on his. He watches Tris walk up to her and mutter her name. Christina doesn't respond at first but when Tris begins to defend herself, Christina snaps out of her daze.

"You killed him." He watches her turn away from Tris and can see Tris' face fall, emotions riddling her body. Again Four can't move, he wants to comfort her but he can't find the words. How could she keep this from him? Did she think he would blame her for Will's death? He felt so betrayed by her. As Uriah approached her, he felt a slight twinge of jealousy as he grabbed her shoulders but even that couldn't shake him out of his current state.

Eventually the room empties and he finds himself alone with Tris, something he was violently wishing for just hours earlier but now it was something that frightened him. What should he say? How should he react? Finally he decides to stay silent about it and move on.

"I got our weapons back," he says to her, voice staying neutral. If he let out one ounce of emotion it would all spill out and Tris didn't need that right now. He watches her grab the knife but doesn't look at him. He has to find a way to reassure her but he can barely reassure himself.

"We can talk about it tomorrow," he finally says, quietly. She answers him and he moves his arm to rest across her shoulders. He wants to feel the things he did with her earlier while in their room but his head is swarming. She grabs his hip and pulls him to her and he feels a small spark within him but not enough to cut through the fog. As they walk, Four searches for a place for them to sleep. He finds two cots and they lie down together, heads almost touching. Either Four was extremely exhausted or his brain doesn't want him to process all this yet because as soon as his head hits the cot he falls asleep.

His dreams are riddled with nightmares, losing Tris, finding her standing over Will's dead body with a sneer on her face, finding her with a gun aimed at him, and so on. When he wakes up the first thing he notices is how tired he is from his night of tossing and turning. The second is that Tris is gone. His stomach drops, worry fills his body. What if she did something stupid because he didn't comfort her? He should have talked to her about what she said, should not have held that secret against her. Hadn't he told her no matter what she told him he wouldn't judge her and that's exactly what he did! Just as he was going to get up and search for her, he saw her return, cheeks flushed, tears swimming in her eyes.

Four stands up and walks toward the elevators, hoping Tris will follow. She moves to stand next to him and neither of them say anything. As the elevator descends, Four can feel Tris shaking but he still can't speak. He wants to get the words right so this doesn't turn into a screaming match between them. He can't look at her, has to keep his mind clear as he sorts through his thoughts.

Finally Four turns to her, asking the simple question that has plagued him all night, "You didn't tell me, why not?" He stares into her eyes, looking for any lies she may tell.

"Because I didn't…..didn't know how to." He sees the pain in her eyes and knows this is the truth. Her reason angers him a little, hearing the lack of trust in that statement.

He scowls at her, "It's pretty _easy_ Tris.."

She cuts him off, "Oh yeah? It's so easy. All I have to do is go up to you and say, 'By the way, I shot Will, and now guilt is ripping me to shreds but what's for breakfast? _Right?_ Why don't you try killing one of your best friends and then dealing with the consequences?" He watches her cover her face and break down, trying to hide her tears from him and his body shatters with the guilt. He made this about him, about his worry she didn't trust him when it was about Tris and what she had been through. She has been hurting this entire time and he should be comforting her not accusing her.

He touches her shoulder and apologizes, "Tris, I'm sorry. I shouldn't pretend like I understand. I just meant that…I wish you trusted me enough to tell me things like that." She looks into his eyes and he can see the trust there but he also sees her pain.

"I mean, I had to find out you almost drowned in a water tank from _Caleb_. Doesn't that seem a little strange to you?" He saw her eyes ignite with anger and wondered what he said wrong.

"Other things seem stranger. Like finding out your boyfriend's supposedly dead mother is still alive by _seeing her in person_. Or overhearing his plans to ally with the factionless, but he never tells you about it. That seems strange to me." Four recoils from her words. He never told her about his mother because he never thought he would ever see her again, never had any intention of seeing her again. He didn't realize she was awake that night and realized he should have told her his plan. He never had any plans of allying with the factionless, only wanted to take down his mother. He has lost control of his emotions and this conversation. He wanted to stay calm but now anger takes over. He removes his hand from her shoulder.

She continues, "Don't pretend this is only my problem. If I don't trust you, you don't trust me either."

Four had planned on talking to her about all of it, he just had to get her away from the factionless, but now he realizes he should have at least let her know he had things to talk to her about but his brain wasn't able to process that right now.

"I thought we would get to those things eventually, do I have to tell you everything right away?" He can feel it, the tension between them and he just wants to end it. He wants to grab her in his arms but pride gets in the way.

"God _Four! _ You don't want to have to tell me everything right away, but I have to tell you everything right away? Can't you see how stupid that is?" That name is like a slap in the face, the fact that she used it out of anger hurt him more than anything else she said. How could she talk to him this way? He was talking to her out of love, but then again she hadn't said she loved him yet so maybe that was the problem.

"First of all, don't use that name like a weapon against me. Second, I was not making plans to ally with the factionless, I was just thinking it over. If I had made a decision, I would have said something to you. And third, it would be different if you actually intended to tell be about Will at some point, but it's obvious that you didn't." He wondered where everything had gone wrong, how had they gotten to this point. He wanted to talk to her to straighten things out, not make them worse.

"I _did_ tell you about Will. That wasn't truth serum, it was me. I said it because I chose to." Now he was really confused. What was she talking about?

"What?" he asked, unsure what she meant.

"I was aware, under the serum. I could have lied; I could have kept it from you but I didn't because I thought you deserved the truth." For a second, Four was impressed by her strength against that serum but then anger flooded his body. She thought that was how she should tell him? Before he could even process his thoughts, anger pushed the words out of his body.

"What a way to tell me! In front of over a hundred people. How intimate!" She continued the yelling party, which made him glad he had removed them from everyone else.

"Oh, so it's not enough that I told you; it has to be in the right setting? Next time should I brew some tea and make sure the lighting is right?" He forgot about this side of her, it was so long ago since the fire burned in her eyes. He remembered that sassy, quick mouthed girl from initiation which was what made him fall in love with her in the first place. He only wished she was back in a different way.

He lets out a frustrated sigh, unsure of how to fix this. "Sometimes, it isn't easy to be with you Tris." He looks away, unsure of where those words came from. She doesn't say anything for a while and he wonders what is going through her mind. All he wants to do is grab her and kiss her, move past this and get back to how they were before all this mess. He knows that isn't logical though, they have to work through it not brush it away. Finally he hears her sigh and say the words he never thought he'd hear.

"I'm sorry. I should have been honest with you." He should just accept it, move on and take her in his arms but there was so much more wrong with this situation besides honesty.

"That's it? That's all you have to say?"

She looks at him in disbelief, "What else do you want me to say?"

He can't find the words, can't find the energy to keep fighting with her. "Nothing Tris, nothing." He turns and walks away from her, something he never dreamed he would be able to do. He feel empty inside, like someone cut out a piece of him and it was breaking him apart. He hoped their relationship wasn't broken completely.


	14. Chapter 14: Reignite

**Sorry about the long hiatus, it has been raining here for a week straight and it finally stopped on Friday. I enjoyed a few days of sun and am back to our story! Enjoy this chapter and a few more tonight! Let me know what you think, this is a combination of a few chapters as Four didn't show up much. Review!**

* * *

Four walked away and found a quiet place in the building to just think. He had no idea what was going on between him and Tris but he couldn't take all the secrets, lies, and tension any longer. He was going to find a time they could talk it all through calmly and get back to how they were before this entire mess. As his thoughts raced, he felt the exhaustion take over his body from the past 24 hours. His eyes slowly drifted closed as he settled into the chair he was sitting in.

* * *

Hours later he woke with a start, wondering how long he had been sleeping. He stood up, stretched, and figured he better go find Tris. He hadn't meant to abandon her this long. He headed quickly toward the dorms where he knew Uriah was staying. As he walked into the door, he heard Tris' voice and a smile sprang up on his face. He knew this could be fixed, he loved her so much, they just had to talk things out.

As he approached, he heard Lynn talking too and heard her mention going somewhere. It wasn't safe for anyone to be wandering out right now, especially Tris. He had to find out what her plans were.

"Where are you going?" he asked and saw Tris stiffen at his voice.

"Top of the Hancock building to spy on Erudite. Want to come?" Lynn asks him. His chest tightens at the thought of how tall that building was. He wanted to go so desperately with Tris but knew he wouldn't be able to.

"No, I have a few things to take care of. Be careful," he said to Tris. He couldn't stand the space between them, it felt like initiation again when he wasn't allowed to get close to her. He reached his arm out and touched her arm, holding her back for a moment. As quick as he grabbed her, he released her, the touch not feeling the same with the argument that was lingering between them.

He leaned in and whispered, "I'll see you later. Don't do anything stupid." He saw her face drop, as if he had insulted her in some way.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she spat back at him. Clearly she wasn't over their argument and he let out a frustrated breath at the misinterpretation of his statement. He believed in her but didn't want anything to happen to her because she was reckless due to her anger.

"I didn't mean that, I meant don't let anyone else do anything stupid. They'll listen to you." Being this close to her made him crave her lips, he hadn't touched him in a day and his body was screaming at him. He began to lean in but at the last second thought better of it. His heart couldn't take it if she pulled back so he did instead, saving himself from more pain. She runs off and Four feels his body sag with confusion. Where should he go from here?

As he watches her leave he walks back to the dorms. He lays back down on his bed and lets his mind wander. He thinks over all the good times they had, trying to find a common thread to bring them back together.

He must have drifted off to sleep again because he was awoken by gunfire and glass shattering. He jumped up and ran into the hallway, joined by all the other Dauntless refugees staying there. Four hears people screaming and he rushes to the stairwell to get himself downstairs. He is grabbed by Jack and pulled away from the stairs. "Dauntless traitors downstairs, guns, shooting people," he forces out before he runs off. Four's mind immediately turns to Tris, did she make it out before this happened? Did they have her in custody now?

He felt his feet begin to fly before he could process where he was going. He had to save her, that kiss that he didn't give her before she left felt heavier now, wishing he had made that contact with her. He flew down the stairs and heard shouting and yelling. As he hit the third floor he saw a familiar face and his stomach dropped. If Uriah was here than Tris was either downstairs where the gunfire was or taken.

"Uriah!" he shouted and saw Uriah turn. "Four? They're coming, the Dauntless traitors, Eric is with them. They gassed everyone but the gas only affected non-Divergent. Tris is fine, she's downstairs, she sent me up here to warn everyone."

Four breathed out the breath he had been holding in, she was safe. He realized she wasn't going to be safe for long, she would put herself in harm's way to save anyone she felt needed saving. He had to find her.

"Where did you leave her Uriah?" He needed to get to her before she did anything reckless.

"First floor," he shouted over his shoulder as he ran off. Four sprinted back down the stairs and as he runs down them, he is passed by a small girl who seems to be running for her life. Then Four is grabbed by a woman and pulled into a corner. She was wearing Erudite blue but he recognized her as Will's sister. She put a finger over her lips and motioned for him to follow her upstairs.

* * *

Four makes it to the first floor but sees only bodies. He can't find Tris anywhere and as he rounds the corner he hears the one voice he thought he never would again, Eric's.

Four creeps closer and sees Eric has a line of hostages. He recognizes her almost immediately, sitting between two people Four has never seen before. She has blood running down her chin and is favoring her right shoulder quite significantly. As he moves closer, he listens to what Eric is saying. He is talking about testing the Divergent and discusses criteria for what they are looking for.

"The brain finishes developing at age twenty-five therefore your Divergence is not completely developed, so you are of no use to us." Eric doesn't even hesitate as he raises his gun and shoots the boy sitting next to Tris. Four hears Tris' scream and he holds back from grabbing her and pulling her to safety. He moves slightly closer as he watches Eric turn his attention to Tris.

"You are also rather young. Nowhere near finished developing. Most Divergent only get two results and most don't believe you got three. Although between you and me, I think you did get three because you are bullheaded enough to refuse to make a simple choice when asked too. Care to enlighten me?" Eric sneers in her face.

Four wanted to smack that look off his face and get him away from Tris. Just as he was going to jump in and save Tris, he saw her lunge at Eric and drive a knife into him. Four watches as Eric slumps against the knife and then chaos erupts. Everyone begins screaming and the Dauntless traitors look around frantically before the crowd attacks them. Uriah launches himself at a soldier and Four runs toward Tris. He sees her on the ground, trying to grab Eric's gun but watches the fear wash over her face. He pushes people aside and finally reaches her side.

He grabs her shoulder and pushes her against the wall as gently as he can. He encircles her body, protecting her from gunfire.

"Watch my back and let me know if anyone's behind me," Four yells, knowing Tris can't protect either of them with a gun. He feels her wrap her arms around him and becomes distracted momentarily. Their contact reignites the spark that has been cooling inside of him but his mind snaps him back to the situation at hand.

Four fires at the Dauntless traitors, over and over again, until he hears the trigger clicking. The fear of Tris almost being killed makes him continue to click the trigger even though the gun is empty. A moan snaps him out of his daze and he looks over at Eric, lying on the ground. He turns to Tris and sees her panicking at the blood on her hands.

He turns to her, needing to calm her down. "Tris, you can put the knife down now." He grabs her hand and pulls her to him to tell her his side of the story that lead him to her just in time.


	15. Chapter 15: Release

Four takes a deep breath and tells Tris his story, what happened to him during this attack. Will's older sister ran to the highest floor and helped evacuate the loyal Dauntless, including himself, to a fire escape not yet sealed off. When they reached the lobby, they split up into groups and that is where he found her.

As he finished telling how he got to her, he heard her sigh. She stood up and walked to the bathroom, not a glance back in his direction. How had they gotten here? Clearly she needed help and at one time she would have come to him, not walked away from him.

He wandered around the compound all night lost in thought. He hated the person he had become, he felt so lost. After transferring to Dauntless he dedicated his life to removing weakness from his body. He started with the physical, removing every ounce of fat Abnegation had put on his body. Then he moved to the mental, removing as many fears as possible until he whittled himself down to the four he carried like a badge of honor.

After meeting Tris, he realized he had neglected the emotional part of himself. Having closed those doors so early in his life to be able to survive the beatings from Marcus, he forgot what it was like to feel. When he met Tris he slowly let those walls down and allowed himself to feel again. When he awoke from that simulation and realized he almost killed Tris, something inside of him snapped. A fear deep seeded inside of him came forward, a fear that he would be like Marcus. He safely removed Tris from the attack but something broke in the process. The secrets created a wall between them he had no way around. He couldn't figure this out and it caused the emotions to overwhelm his body.

He wandered into the cafeteria after having stayed up all night and sat down next to Caleb. As they were sitting, he saw Caleb glance toward the door. Tris walked through and before Four could stand up, Caleb was off and running toward her, wrapping her up in his arms. She looked over his shoulder and makes eye contact with Four, he notices the lack of spark that used to be there when they would lock eyes before. They talk for a while and then Tris detaches from Caleb and walks toward him. He stands up and keeps his distance from her, feeling very awkward at the space.

He has to have her in his arms, he steps toward her slowly, "You okay?" he asks.

"I might throw up if I have to answer that one more time, I don't have a bullet in my head do I? So I'm good." He felt her words slap him across the face, as if he wasn't allowed to be concerned for her.

"Your jaw is swollen you look like you have a wad of food in your cheek and you stabbed Eric. I'm not allowed to ask if you are okay?" He was frowning at her, trying to get through the wall.

He hears Tris sigh and something crosses through her eyes. She looks down for a moment and then back up at his eyes, "Yeah. I'm okay." His arms reach for her but he stops them, unsure of what she wants anymore.

He is so sick of this doubt and distance and steps toward her and wraps his arms around her. She has to want this, they fought so hard for this, he wasn't going to let it slip away over a few arguments. He feels her lean into his embrace and tuck her head into his shoulder. He could stand here forever, let the world slide away and just be with her.

He sighs, taking the first step toward repairing what the lies tore apart, "I'm sorry it took me so long to come get you." She sighs into his chest and leans up toward him.

"I need to talk to you. Can we go somewhere quiet?" She begins to lead him away and they leave the cafeteria. As they are walking together someone yells, "Oh look! It's Tobias Eaton!" He stiffens but keeps walking, they can't use that name against him to hurt him.

Another Dauntless yells, "I saw your daddy earlier Eaton! Are you going to go hide?" That made him stop, he was unable to move from that spot. Marcus was alive? They continued to jeer at him.

"Yeah, you gonna hide coward?" Four began to turn toward the voice and laughter but Tris pulled him away. He felt all the muscles in his body stiffen, needing to release it somehow. He turned toward Tris and saw guilt on her face.

"I was going to tell you-he came with Caleb. He and Peter escaped Amity-" Four couldn't let her finish, anger removing every sensible thought from his body. His revelation earlier about moving past the lies was overtaken by the fire coursing through his veins.

"What were you waiting for then?" He was able to keep the anger form his voice, felt as if this was all a dream. He had to let her explain, stop this cycle of fighting. He realized sometimes people had to keep things a secret for a while, remembering back to when he first told her who he was. Sometimes secrets were necessary.

"It's not the type of news you deliver in a cafeteria," she tells him.

"Fair enough," he says. He feels them pulling back together, finding the path back to each other. He pulls her toward the elevator and waits for it to come. Hs is torn, they are mending what the attack broke but he wants to find Marcus. As he turns, he sees Tris' profile and realizes what is more important. They step into the elevator and head up to the interrogation room. Tris sits down on a bench and Four pulls over Niles' chair. He notices a chair missing from the room and turns to Tris.

"Did there used to be two of these?" he asks frowning at her.

She smiles slyly, "Yeah, I, uh, it got thrown out the window." He smirks back at her. 'Strange, so what did you want to talk about? Or was that about Marcus?" He had to try, take the first step, he had to get her back to him. She was his anchor.

"No that wasn't it. Are you all right?" There it was, her selflessness shining through. She had been shot, almost killed, and she was thinking only of him.

"I don't have a bullet in my head do I? So I'm fine, I'd like to talk about something else." He had no desire to waste any of their time on Marcus, he would deal with him later.

"I want to talk about simulations. But first, something else, your mother thought Jeanine would go after the factionless next. Obviously she was wrong but I'm not sure why. It's not like the Candor are battle ready or anything."

Four cuts her off, knowing she is the best at analyzing the situation. "Well think about it, think it through like the Erudite." He realized what he implied at he said it and he saw her look at him with anger.

"What? If you can't, the rest of us have no hope." She huffs at him and concedes.

"Well, it had to be because Dauntless and Candor were the most logical targets. The factionless are in multiple places, whereas we're all in the same place."

Four wanted to kiss her but kept the conversation going, "Right. Also when Jeanine attacked Abnegation she got all the data. My mother told me that the Abnegation had documented the factionless Divergent populations, which means after the attack, Jeanine must have found out the proportion of Divergent among the factionless is higher than among Candor. That makes them an illogical target."

Tris smiles at him, continuing their thoughts, "All right. Then tell me about the serum again. It as a few parts right?"

"Two, the transmitter and the liquid that induces the simulation. The transmitter communicates information to the brain from the computer and the liquid alters the brain to start the simulation." He could feel how well they worked together, he had to remind himself they were better together.

Tris nodded, "What happens after the transmitter does it's job?"

"It dissolved and as far as I know the Erudite haven't developed a transmitter that lasts for more than one simulation." Four looks at her, sees realizations cross her face. He wants to push her for answers but lets her puzzle through it. She was thinking so hard it was as if he wasn't in the room. Finally he couldn't take it any longer.

"What's this about Tris?" He was nervous for her answer, knowing it can't be anything good.

She points to a bandage on her shoulder, "Have you seen this yet?" His stomach cringes at the thought of her getting injured again without him knowing about it.

He leans in, "Not up close, Uriah and I were hauling wounded up to the fourth floor all morning." He watches as she peels away the bandage, revealing a puncture wound. Where did that come from? He sees there isn't any blood but notices the blue patch around the wound. She also pulls a needle from her pocket.

"When they attacked, they weren't trying to kill us. They were shooting us with these." He slowly reached out and touched the wound carefully. He feels her eyes on him but all he can wonder is what is in Tris' body and will she be able to fight it? He grabs the needle from her hand and tapes the disc.

"This is probably hollow, it held whatever blue stuff is in your arm. What happened after you were shot?" He had to figure out what they wanted, had to get her somewhere safe if this was another simulation.

"They tossed these gas spewing canisters and everyone went unconscious except Uriah and me and the other Divergent." She notices he doesn't flinch at the words that Uriah was Divergent, she didn't realize the extent of his job at Dauntless.

"You know he was Divergent?"

Four shrugs, not wanting to make a big deal out of it, "Of course, I ran his simulations too."

He saw the anger in her eyes, another secret. "You didn't tell me?"

He wasn't going to fight her on this, he couldn't have told her, it wasn't his secret to tell. "Privileged information, Dangerous information, the less people that knew the safer everyone is." He watches anger fill her eyes but then she controls it.

"You saved out lives you know," she says, "Eric was trying to hunt us down." He just smiles at her.

"I think we're past keeping track of who has saved whose life." He stares at her, wanting to get the point across that she saved his life too, in more ways than she knew.

"Anyway, after everyone was asleep, Uriah ran upstairs to warn people and I went to the second floor to figure out what was going on. Eric had all the Divergent by the elevators and he was figuring out which of us he was going to take to Erudite, he was only allowed to take two."

Four's stomach dropped, what would Erudite want with Divergent besides to kill them? "Odd," was all he could say. His brain was fuzzy, she was almost taken from him.

"Any ideas?" She looked at him hopefully, for an answer that would keep her safe.

"My guess is the needle injected you with a transmitter and the gas affected only brains of non-Divergent. She put everyone to sleep to figure out who was Divergent."

Tris wasn't satisfied and he realized again he wasn't as skilled at analyzing situations as she was. "You think that's the only reason for shooting us with transmitters?"

He just shakes his head and locks eyes with her. What had their life become? Why couldn't they just relax and enjoy each other's company. Looking at Tris, he realized she must already have an answer.

"I think you've already figured it out. You want me to contradict you and I'm not going to."

She smiled and answered him, "They've developed a long lasting transmitter." Four nods along, knowing that is where she was headed with it.

"So now we're all wired for multiple simulations, as many as Jeanine wants." And there it was, the words he didn't want to hear. She had that in her and there was no way to save her from it, Four was powerless against Jeanine. If he hadn't been so proud, Tris wouldn't have been down there alone and he could have kept her from being shot. He wasn't going to let her out of his sight again, he had to protect her, she was his life.

"This is bad Tobias." He heard the fear in her voice and felt the same fear creeping through his body. They get up and walk out of the room before Four realizes something. It pushes his previous thought from his brain.

"So you attacked Eric, was that during the invasion? Or were you by the elevators?"

She stops, "By the elevators."

He feels anger push away the fear, "One thing I don't understand is you were downstairs, you could have just run away but instead you decided to dive into a crowd of armed Dauntless all by yourself, without a gun."

He saw her stiffen, "What makes you think I didn't have a gun?" He knew her brave face, she was trying to distract him.

"You haven't been able to touch a gun since the attack. I understand why with the Will thing but-"

She cuts him off, "That has nothing to do with it!" He doesn't believe her for a second, she doesn't want to admit her weaknesses.

"No?" He lifts an eyebrow at her, forcing her to admit it.

"I did what I had to do." That's it, that's all she can say to him after risking her life unnecessarily?

"Yeah but now you should be done," he stands and faces her, "You should have stayed with Amity, you should have stayed far away from this."

She stands straight too, "No I shouldn't have, you think you know what's best for me? You have no idea. I was going crazy with the Amity. Here I finally feel, sane again." Four tried to remember not to fight with her but she wasn't thinking clearly and he had to get her to realize that.

"Which is odd, considering you are acting like a psychopath, it's not brave. It's beyond stupid, it's suicidal. Don't you have any regard for your own life?" All he thought about was keeping himself alive for her, but she didn't give him the same consideration.

She was yelling now, her facing turning red with the words she was spitting at him, "Of course I do! I was trying to do something useful." Four was so deep into this argument, emotions coming to the surface he had been suppressing. He never told her but it really bothered him she hadn't said she loved him back. He felt her slipping through his fingers and he was grasping at anything to keep her by his side.

"You're more than Dauntless, but if you want to be just like them, hurling yourself into ridiculous situations for no reason and retaliating against your enemies without any regard for what's ethical, go right ahead. I thought you were better than that, but maybe I was wrong!" Words were spilling out of him from a place that he wasn't aware of.

"You shouldn't insult Dauntless, they gave you a place to live when you had no where else to go! They gave you a good job and friends." Tris was right but it had also turned her into a catalyst for danger.

He watches her lean against the wall, eyes on the floor. Four moved toward her and gently said her name, "Tris." She didn't look at him but he wasn't going to brush it off as he had before.

'Tris," he said again, wanting her eyes on his. Finally she looks up at him and he lets out the words that he has been holding in so long. He allows Tris to see his vulnerability when it comes to her, why he is so adamant on protecting her.

"I just don't want to lose you." He stands and thinks about the paths ahead of them. Part of him wants to give up and run away but the stronger part of him, the part Dauntless created, makes him curious as to what is coming next.

They move down to the cafeteria and he watches Tris go and sit with her brother and he waits in line with Uriah. He is barely able to listen to his endless chattering which makes him think of Zeke. He was so great at making Uriah shut up when he needed to. As they move through the line and find their seats, Four notices how tired Tris looks. She places her head on the table and he allows her to sleep, pushing away anyone who tries to talk to her.

One step at a time, he will fix this between then one step at a time.


	16. Chapter 16: Selfish

Four kept an eye on Tris as she napped on the table. He lets her sleep as long as possible but finally had to wake her up to make it to the meeting that Jack had called. They wandered down to the meeting room and stood in the back.

Jack called everyone to attention, "I know many of you are confused and shaken by what happened yesterday. I heard many reports from a variety of perspectives and realize this situation requires more investigation. The thing that needs more investigation I feel are the Divergent. If you are one of the Divergent, I would ask you to please step forward to hear from you."

The room was silent, Four saw Tris turn to Uriah and plant her feet. He knew this was the only time they would be allowed to willing step forward before they would possibly be forced to identify themselves. He didn't want anyone getting hurt because of him so he took a risk.

Four began to walk toward the front of the room and walked right up to Jack Kang standing as tall as he could. He heard her begin to move and knew Tris was following him. He hoped he wasn't leading her into danger but felt they had no choice. A few more people joined them on the stage and the last person made his blood boil. He saw Marcus step up onto the stage and Jack looked at him surprised.

"You Marcus?" Jack questioned him and Marcus didn't even hesitate to answer him.

"Yes, I understand you are concerned and since you've only heard about Divergent a week ago you are probably curious. We are immune to something that you are susceptible to and that is frightening to you. I can assure you that there is nothing to be afraid of as far as we are concerned," Marcus addressed the crowd. Four wanted to smack that smirk off his face, the one he wore when he felt he was in charge.

He is manipulating the crowd and they don't even know it. Jack isn't convinced and it makes Four smile even though it isn't good news for them.

"It seems clear to me that we were attacked so that Erudite could find the Divergent. Do you know why that is?" Jack asked, turning to Marcus as if he spoke for all of us.

"No I don't. Perhaps their intention was merely to identify us. It seems like useful information to have, if they intend to use their simulations again." Marcus answered.

Four was about to speak up but not surprisingly Tris beat him too it. "That was not their intention. They want to kills us, they've been killing us since before any of this happened."

Four sees Jack turn toward Tris and he moves closer in case anything happens. Jack stares intently at Tris before answering her, "That sounds very much like a conspiracy theory. What reason would Erudite have to kill you?" Four smirked, he knew Tris wouldn't like that Jack didn't take her seriously. Her size was something she was always working against, no one ever listened to her because she looked so young.

Four saw her falter, unable to find the right answer. He stepped in, "Obviously we don't know. There are nearly a dozen mysterious deaths recorded among the Dauntless from the past six years and there is a correlation between those people and irregular aptitude test results."

Jack turns his attention to Four, "While that is intriguing, correlation does not constitute evidence." He was being stubborn, not wanting to admit this was possible. That frustrated Four very much, he was too blinded to see people were being murdered for no reason.

"A Dauntless leader shot a Candor child in the head, did you get a report of that? Did it seem worthy of investigation?" Tris snapped at Jack.

Jack responds, "In fact I did and shooting a child in cold blood is a terrible crime that cannot go unpunished. Fortunately, we have the perpetrator in custody and will be able to put him on trial. However, we must keep in mind that the Dauntless soldiers did not give any evidence of wanting to harm the majority of us, or they would have killed us while we were unconscious."

Four felt his hands ball up into fists. Jack was never interested in just finding out who was Divergent to talk to them, he was going to hand them in. Four could see it already and he had to get them all out. He heard the crowd murmur before Jack turned to address them, turning his back on the Divergent by him. Four took this as a sign of how he felt about them.

"Their peaceful invasion suggests to me that it may be possible to negotiate a peace treaty with the Erudite and the other Dauntless. I will arrange a meeting with Jeanine to discuss that possibility as soon as possible."

Four tried to stop her but Tris' anger was too quick, "Their invasion wasn't peaceful. Just because they didn't shoot you all in the head doesn't mean their intentions were somehow honorable. Why do you think they came here? Just to run through your hallways, knock you unconscious, and then leave?" Four smiled, he loved this fire in Tris. Jack took a small step back from her, finally seeing her strength before straightening his shoulders and addressing her.

"I assume they came here for people like you. While I am concerned for your safety, I don't think we can attack them just because they wanted to kill a fraction of our population," Jack responded and Four almost punched him. How insensitive do you have to be to trade a few lives for the majority?

"Kill you is not the worst thing they can do to you. Controlling you is," Tris stared him down. He saw Jack almost burst out laughing at her and he clenched his teeth.

"Oh? And how would they manage that?" Jack asked. Four didn't realize until now how ignorant Jack was. Did he not understand any of the actions that lead up to this day? Why did he think they were here right now?

"They shot you with needles, needles full of simulation transmitters which control you. That's how," Four stepped in. He couldn't handle the ignorance of these people, realizing they had sacrificed so much for honesty.

"We know how simulations work and the transmitter is not permanent. If they intended to control us, they would have done it right away," Jack responds pompously.

Tris begins to object but Jack doesn't let her finish, blaming this all on stress. He sees her freeze, her eyes glazing over and Four's anger surges when Jack uses the words _little girl_ toward her. He steps forward and faces Jack.

"You don't make our decision for us, Kang," Four said. He hears other Dauntless back him up and begin to shout at Jack. He waits for them to finish before acknowledging Four.

"That is true, if you want, you are free to storm Erudite but we will not support you. A reminder, you are greatly outnumbered and unprepared." Jack looks satisfied, as if he just solved all the problems in this room with that statement.

Four thinks it over and realizes he is right, they can't defeat Erudite alone and keeps his mouth shut before he gets them kicked out. Although, maybe leaving here wouldn't be the worst thing. They didn't fit in at Amity and they don't fit in here. Their lifestyle is so much different than the other factions. Four's silence seems to fill Jack with even more hot air.

He puffs out his chest pompously before addressing the room again, "I thought so. I will contact Jeanine and see if we can negotiate peace. Any objections?" Four screams in his head but keeps his mouth shut. He knows they can't win against Erudite along but there is always one more group willing to attack them. He thinks of his mother and the factionless. He needs to get Tris alone, he wants to form a plan and doesn't want to leave her out of it.

She looks at him and has the same realization in her eyes, only the factionless can save them now.


	17. Chapter 17: Eavesdrop

**I added what I thought might have happened when Four was in the meeting with Kang. Enjoy and review!**

* * *

Early that morning, Four is called to a meeting with Kang. He assumes he is included because he spoke up yesterday acting like a leader, he was as close to any the Dauntless had here. He quietly made his way to the room and slipped inside. He noticed Marcus was sitting at the table and found a spot as far away as possible.

Kang stood and addressed the whole room but kept his eyes on Four. "Tomorrow morning I will be meeting with representatives from Erudite. I will be taking some senior members from the factions represented here, Dauntless and Abnegation, and will fill you in on what we find out when I return. No one else is to come along or our peace treaty will not be fulfilled by Erudite."

He looked around the room for people to argue and Four stepped up first. "So we are just supposed to accept that you will be going and negotiating our safety to the people who want us dead and sit back and wait for you to lead them back here to capture us? I don't trust that you have our best interests at heart Kang."

Marcus stood and spoke directly to Four in a tone he used to use when he was younger, "Tobias! Jack has been generous enough to let you and your little girlfriend stay here without questions along with the rest of your troublesome faction. You will show him some respect when he's speaking to you." He heard the implicated _or else_ in Marcus' statement and he wasn't going to let him speak to him like that.

Four's eyes burned with hatred as he turned toward his father, "Or what? You'll beat me again? Will we go to a private room or will you do it publicly since everyone knows now? I hate to disappoint you but if you take one step toward me I will break every bone in your body. You have no power over me anymore and I no longer take orders from you. You are nothing to me."

Four took a deep breath and turned back to Jack, "I understand the Divergent are strange to you but I swear we are no harm. Jeanine does want us so she can experiment or kill us. Don't throw our lives away."

With that he stormed out of the room, pushing aside the curtain and seeing Tris sitting with the group. He notices Zeke integrated back into the group easily enough, he was very glad to hear he wasn't a traitor. He felt that he always knew but in the back of his mind he worried he may have to shoot him one day and knew that wasn't every an option.

Four sat down next to Tris and addressed the group, "Kang is going to meet with a representative of Jeanine Matthews at seven in the morning." He watches all their faces, gathering the feelings toward this meeting from Divergent and non-Divergent.

"A representative?" Zeke asks. "She's not going herself?"

Uriah responds, "Yeah and stand out in the open with angry people holding guns, I'd like to see her try."

Everyone ignores him and Lynn turns toward Four, "Is Kang taking anyone with him?"

Four sighs, anger still coursing through his body, "yes, some of the older members volunteered. Kang said he would keep his ears open and report back." He made eye contact with Tris and he saw a lot of questions in her eyes, he shook his head slightly to tell her not here.

"So the real question is, if you were Erudite, what would you sat that this meeting?" Zeke asks while the whole group turns to Tris.

She looks shocked, Four knows she hates that she has an aptitude for that faction, as if it connects her to their choices in some way.

"What?" she asks, trying to divert the attention away from herself.

"You're Divergent," Zeke says matter of factly. Tris tries one last time to get the attention on someone else.

"So is Four." Zeke quickly responds, "Yeah but he doesn't have an aptitude for Erudite, we all know you do, don't we?"

Everyone nods and Four smiles, quickly pushing it away, at Tris' frustration at the group's knowledge of her aptitude.

"You all have functional brains. You can think like them too," she said, refusing to give in to it. Marlene smiles at her, "But we don't have special _Divergent_ brains! Come on do your magic."

Everyone chuckles and Lynn responds, "There so such thing as Divergent Magic Mar."

Shauna is the one who brings up the negative side of Divergent, Four was taken aback that she wasn't comfortable with them. She argued that they shouldn't be consulting with Divergents, accusing them of having loyalty problems. This angered Four a lot.

"Don't be ridiculous!" He yells. She smacks the table and yells back, "I'm not! I know I belong in Dauntless because everything I did on the test said so. But her? You? I have no idea who you're loyal to."

Before Four or Tris could answer, Shauna got up and walked away. Four felt Tris' anger at being accused of not being loyal and he quickly moved on, not wanting to get into that debate right now.

Four turns to Tris and gives her a look of _share your ideas, I know you have them._ She gives in with a huff.

"If I were in this situation, staring at a group of Dauntless guards and Jack Kang, I probably wouldn't resort to violence right? Whomever is coming to talk to him isn't going to be some random Erudite kid, it's going to be someone important. It would be a stupid move to fire on Jack Kang and risk losing whoever they send as Jeanine's representative. I think instead, Jeanine will try to manipulate him, which will cause him to do anything to protect his faction. Even if it means sacrificing a few Divergent, or Dauntless for that matter, to save Candor."

Four was nodding his head with her, in total agreement, until her last statement.

"We need to listen in." He knew what that meant, more danger, more self-sacrificing. If he knew Tris well enough, and he did, that would be that he would have to hold on to her to make sure she didn't put herself in danger. He let out a sigh, realizing there was no other way to protect her or the rest of the Dauntless and Divergent. They would have to go spy on the meeting.


	18. Chapter 18: Retribution

Everyone was sitting and eating dinner, nervous for what the meeting would bring the next morning. Four was talking with Lauren about whether the factions would return after this was all over. It was all he knew and most of him desperately wanted the routines and structure back but part of him realized how flawed they were and wondered if they would be better without.

Just as he was spreading butter on his bread, he heard it. It had been following him around the compound, especially with the older Dauntless who had come to respect Four's lack of fears and training techniques, but that respect was gone. The group sat down near Four and a boy leaned over and whispered "coward" to him. He clenched his teeth and felt his hand grip the knife tightly but refused to let them affect him.

They may think he was a coward for defecting but they had no idea what it was like in that house. It was for his own survival that he left and he was tired of hearing that word whispered everywhere he went now. A few others join in and a chorus of "cowards" are whispered just loud enough for him to hear. He would love to teach them respect, show them why they feared him in the first place but they weren't the one he had something to prove to.

He sets his knife and bread down and stands up without a word to anyone, not even Tris. He can see her looking at him with concern but she can't do anything now, it's up to him to end this and earn back the respect he lost during the truth serum confession.

"This needs to stop," he says to no one in particular and walks in the direction he noticed earlier, where Marcus was seated. He glides between tables, allowing the anger to wash over him. He was always so great at separating emotions from his fighting but this time he wanted to feel the rage from all those years of beatings, let it do the talking. He can hear Tris pushing through people behind him but even she couldn't stop him. Even she didn't understand what he was going through right now. This man has dominated his entire life, caused him to become so filled with fear as a child that he could hardly breath some days. It made him what he was today, a strong lethal killing machine and Marcus was about to get some retribution for what he had done.

Four reaches Marcus and grabs him by the back of the neck, pulling him from his seat. He can see that Marcus is already getting some twisted speech ready and he doesn't give him a chance, he will not be manipulated any longer by this man. Four feels his hand form a fist and watches it connect with Marcus' teeth, as if disconnected from his body. He always felt strong before but this anger was giving him a strength he had never dreamed of. He could hear people yelling but it was all distant to him, his only focus was on the bleeding man in front of him.

Four grabs Marcus and shoves him into the middle of the room, he needs as many Dauntless to see this as possible. They will fear and respect him again. He will show them he is no coward and he was truly Dauntless. As he nears Marcus, he can see how the old man stumbles but it is over done. He is always the crowd pleaser, trying to get sympathy by acting feeble. Even if Four could analyze this and realize Marcus was playing this just right, he couldn't stop himself now, he had waited too long for this moment.

He grabs Marcus and shoves him to the ground, grinding his heel into his throat. Marcus weakly shoves on Four's leg but he is no match for Four's strength. Four made sure of that through his training at Dauntless, it was his only motivation before Tris came along. He slowly removes his belt, taking it out loop by loop as he vividly remembers Marcus doing too many times.

He lifts his foot from Marcus' throat, the anger has full control now, and draws the belt back. He says the words that only Marcus knows best, "This is for your own good." The belt collides with Marcus' arm and Four surges with ecstasy, enjoying watching Marcus cower as he once did, as the belt hits his head and back. Four gets lost in the movement, enjoying the weak look on Marcus' face and forgets the one person who can pull him out of this anger induced lunacy.

"Stop! Tobias stop right now!" she screams at him. He turns to look at her and sees the shock in her eyes. She didn't realize he planned this; that he wanted to do this to Marcus. He didn't just get lost in the passion but grabbed hold of the anger and directed it toward Marcus. He realizes his point has been made, by the look of Marcus on the floor and Dauntless around them. He drops the belt on top of Marcus and just as he was walking away turns back and gives one final blow, "My mother says hello."

He leaves the room, acknowledging no one but knowing she will follow. Sure enough just as he reaches the elevator, she is behind him yelling.

"What was that?" she demands. He turns to Tris and wants her to understand what it has felt like these past few days. How do you describe to someone the feeling you have when everyone believes you defected just to escape a man but really it was to save your own life.

"It was necessary," was all he said. He couldn't explain to her.

"Necessary for what?" she wasn't going to let him get off that easy.

"What, you're feeling sorry for him now? Do you know how many times he did that to me? How do you think I learned those moves?" Four leaned into her, wanting her to realize what an awful man that was, lying on the floor. She had parents who loved her, she couldn't understand but he hoped she would after his fear landscape.

"No, I don't feel sorry for him at all." He didn't expect that, was she agreeing with him? The anger still had a hold on him, still controlling his words and actions.

"Then what Tris? You haven't cared about what I do or say for the past week, what's different about this?" Again he was so close to letting out everything he had been feeling since the attack, since he found out she was keeping so many secrets from him. Now was not the time though, not right after he did that. She wouldn't respond to him the way he wanted if he used this as firepower.

"Nothing," she says. He steps onto the elevator and lets it close between them. The rift between them opening up even more. A week prior he hadn't ever wanted to let her out of his sight, out of his arms, but now he could barely remember a time they had spent more than five minutes together without fighting. He walks out into the open air and for a brief second considers running, running until his lungs can't support air any longer. Leaving this city behind and facing whatever is outside that fence.

He feels his body lean forward, as if to take off that second. But he turns and walks back inside. If he ran away he would be proving that he didn't belong in Dauntless, that he was a coward. As he thought of taking that step to leave, one face popped up in his mind that made him turn back, if not for her then he would have left.


	19. Chapter 19: Wired

Four came back in and headed back to the cafeteria. He was intercepted by Zeke and Uriah who pulled him into a room across from it.

"Four! What was that about?" Zeke demanded. Four shoved him off from him and took a step back.

"Marcus had to be shown that he didn't have control over me anymore, people needed to see that I wasn't a coward," Four snapped back at him.

Zeke shook his head, "I get that but was that the right way to do it? You got what you wanted, people won't be messing with you anymore but it won't be out of respect, mostly fear. I love you man, you're my best friend. I'm always in your corner but I don't think I can back you up on this one. And what's up with you and Tris? I saw her storm past the cafeteria in hysterics. I wasn't gone that long."

Four let out a deep breath. He knew what he did to Marcus probably wasn't the best solution but if it will get people to back off he was happy. As for Tris, he had no idea what was going on with them. "To be honest Zeke, I have no idea. Ever since this whole mess started it seems like everyone is working against us being together. No matter where we turn a secret or lie comes up that drives a wedge between us before we can close the gap from the one before. I don't know what to do." Four slumped to the ground and let his head fall in his hands.

Zeke sat next to him, "Dude it sounds to me like it isn't other people coming in between you two. It's you. Now you know I'm not the best at relationships but you two have something. Don't let all this shit get between that, you have to stay on each other's side. But enough mushy stuff, Tris was headed toward the bathroom on this floor, go find her and make it right. You guys just need to sit down and air it all out. I would do it now though, we need to prep for tomorrow morning."

Four shook his head in agreement with Zeke until the last part, "What's tomorrow morning?" Zeke looked at him before answering, "Tris didn't tell you, she's going to spy on Jack's meeting with us all. We discussed it the other day but she told me today she made up her mind, she's going with." Four didn't respond to him, he just stood up and walked out of the room. He had to find Tris, he felt she was only doing this out of reaction to what he did to Marcus.

He wound his way up to the bathroom and hesitated before quietly knocking on the door. He was going to wait for her to come to him but he heard a moan and something clatter to the floor. He pushed through the door and said, "Tris?" hoping nothing was happening to her.

He found her crouched on the floor across from a gun. He was hoping she wasn't planning on doing anything with it but saw she was cringing away from it, she must have been trying to get over her fear.

He walks over to her and crouches down, "Zeke and Uriah told me you were going to eavesdrop on Jack."

She looked at him and realized she hadn't meant to him to find out that way. He was hoping she was planning on telling him herself.

"Are you?"

"Why should I tell you? You don't tell me your plans!" He was so tired of this argument, the secrets being held over each other's head like ammunition for the next time someone wanted to do something the other wouldn't approve of. Zeke was right, they need to air it all out.

"What are you talking about?" Four asked, not quite sure what plan she was referencing.

"I'm talking about beating Marcus to a pulp in front of all the Dauntless for no apparent reason. But there is a reason, isn't there? Because it's not like you to lose control, it's not like he did something to provoke you so there has to be a reason."

Four thought he heard some fear in her voice, as if his stunt earlier frightened her. That was the last thing he wanted to do, he never wanted her to see him like his father. How could he explain to her he needed to do that to save his reputation, gain respect again from the Dauntless. It sounded so shallow now that he thought of it but it was something he craved after having no respect for so many years of his life. He decided they had to start with the truth somewhere, this time no better than any other.

"I needed to prove to the Dauntless that I am not a coward. That's all, that's all it was."

She looked surprised, not realizing it was that simple. She hadn't heard all the comments, hadn't been around him enough to hear the sneers and jaunts thrown his way after his confession.

"Why would you need to…" He saw something cross her face and anger filled it as well. What was she thinking about? He couldn't make the connection so he turned the conversation back to Jack.

"So are you going to eavesdrop or not?"

"What does it matter to you?"

Four felt helpless, "You're throwing yourself into danger for no reason again. Just like when you stormed up to fight the Erudite with only a _pocket knife_ to defend yourself."

"There is a reason, a good one. We won't know what is going on unless we eavesdrop. We need to know."

Four crossed his arms, again she had correctly analyzed the situation and he had not. They were Divergent, she was trying to find out if they were safe or not. He took a deep breath, knowing if he yelled at her or told her she couldn't go it would make her want to more. He was going to try to reason with her. Before he could talk she spat at him, "You aren't cutting your hair like Abnegation anymore. Do you want to look more Dauntless?"

Why was she bringing this up now? What did it matter how long his hair was? He wasn't going to let her distract him with whatever she was trying to bring up.

"Don't change the subject, there are already four people going. You don't need to be there." He tried to say it gently but the fear in his voice hardened the words which Tris didn't respond well to.

"Why are you so insistent on me staying home? I am not the kind of person who just sits back and lets other people take all the risks!" He wished she was sometimes, it was hard to keep her safe when she endangered their lives so much.

"As long as you are someone who doesn't seem to value her own life, someone who can't even pick up and fire a _gun_ maybe you should sit back and let other people take the risks." He kept his voice quiet, was trying so hard not to start another argument, he wanted to work this out.

"What are you going to do? Lock me in the bathroom? Because that's the only way you'll be able to keep me from going." Four felt his heart break a little, he thought him asking her to keep herself safe was enough, it would be for him. If she told him to hide in Dauntless when the attack started he would have found a spot for them and hid. It wasn't the same for her, she felt like she had something to prove and he had no idea why.

He presses his forehead, willing the headache that was creeping in to go away and spoke gently, "I don't want to stop you. I want you to stop yourself. If you are going to be reckless, you can't prevent me from coming along." If he couldn't persuade he would have to go along to keep her safe, which meant endangering himself and others.

They headed out for the bridge when it was still dark, wanting to get into position before the meeting started. The slide under the bridge as Zeke and Uriah take their places in the buildings along the bridge. Four is last in line but he watches Tris let Shauna in front of her. He sees her arms shake as she tries to climb the bridge.

Without even thinking, he reaches up and steadies her. His body is tuned into keeping her safe, if only she had the same instinct. She squeezes between the girders and Four follows, sliding his leg under hers to help support her. He can see her small frame cannot reach all the braces like the others can. She smiles at him and he realizes it has been weeks since he's seen that smile. He smiles back at her but is unable to let it completely reach his whole face. He wishes that smile was given to him in a safer place.

They wait a while, Four notices Tris begins to shake slightly but doesn't say a word. As he checks his watch, he realizes it is seven o'clock. He shows his watch to Tris and they all glance up.

"Hello Jack," a voice says. Four's stomach dropped, it was Max, the Dauntless leader. Jack seemed surprised to see him.

"Max, where's Jeanine?" He really thought she was coming to meet him.

Max explained how they work together but something was off about his speech, something strange. Four glanced at Tris and saw the same question on her face, they had never heard Max speak that much. Was he under simulation?

As he continued Four heard news that wasn't good for them. Max said, "I should inform you this is not a negotiation. We have the upper hand, you are disposable. I recommend you do exactly as I say."

Jack wasn't happy about being told he was disposable and Four felt it didn't mean well for the Divergent either. "You scum, how dare-"

Max cut him off, again his words off slightly, "Now let's not get testy." Four recoils at that word, he knew Max would never say that word, no Dauntless would. He was speaking like someone else, he saw recognition on Tris' face, she knew who it was but Four couldn't quite place it.

As he is glancing at her, Tris motions to her ear and them points above her. She is telling him Max is wired. He nods in understanding, unsure of what to do next. 

Max continued, "I have three requirements. First you return the Dauntless leader you have, Second you allow your compound to be searched by our soldiers to extract the Divergent, and Third that you provide us with the names of those who were not injected with the simulation serum."

Jack bristles at these demands, "Why, what are you searching for? Why do you need those names? What do you intend to do with them?

Max hesitated and then said, "The purpose of our search would be to locate and remove the Divergent. As for the names, that doesn't concern you."

Jack became angry at this point, "None of my concern!" Four heard footsteps and saw shadows above them. Jack was grabbing Max by the shirt, anger taking over his body.

Max stayed calm, "Release me or I will order my guards to fire." Four realized if Max was speaking for someone, they had to be here to see him being held. Tris realized the same thing and he saw her looking around. She begins to move and he wants to shout at her to stop but he can't without giving them away. Instead he follows her and sees Shauna do the same but Lynn doesn't follow them.

Four was too late when he noticed her grab her gun and climb the other way, wanting to stop her but unable to get there. His focus was on Tris and he sees her stop when Lynn climbs toward the edge. Shauna starts to yell out but stops her self. The gun goes off and Four sees Max collapse to the ground, covered in blood.

All of them drop to the ground, forgetting to climb down and begin to run as bullets fly around them. Four sees Tris struggling in the mud but sees her make it to the wall. He presses his body against hers, feels her shoulders against his chest. He will shield her from any attack that comes their way, it is the only reason he came along. He was going to suggest they get back to Candor but Tris has another idea.

She grabs his arm and shouts, "Come on," as they sprint up the stairs. Four is glad he trained all those years as he is able to keep up with Tris when the others can't. Gunshots are following them and Four begins to weave as he runs. He approaches the door just as Tris does and sees Peter. Peter raises his gun at Tris but Four was faster, pointing his straight at Peter. They stand there, with Jeanine getting away. Four cannot turn his attention from Peter or he will shoot Tris.

He sees her body tense that way and grabs onto her, not allowing her to move. Her life is more important than capturing Jeanine right now and Peter will surely fire if she moves an inch. Tris begins to scream at Peter but another scream pierces the air. It was female and Four's stomach drops. That could have been Tris, would have been if he hadn't come along.

Peter sneers at him, "You have a choice, you can let us go and help them or you can die trying to follow us." Thankfully Tris chooses to help the others. They slowly back away until they hit the end of the alley and then they turn and run.


	20. Chapter 20: Leader

**I don't even want to make you review for me to give you new chapters...but reviews are nice ;)**

* * *

They rushed back to the girls and found Lynn standing over Shauna who was lying in a pool of blood. Four immediately checked to make sure she was breathing and she was. He turned to Lynn to explain what he needed to do, not wanting her to interfere when Shauna screamed out in pain.

"Lynn, I have to pick her up, it's going to hurt her a lot but it's the only way to save her. Lynn look at me." Lynn turned to him and nodded as Four attempted to pick up Shauna as gingerly as possible. He placed her over his shoulder and begins to walk toward the Merciless Mart. His mind was only on getting Shauna what she needed, he can't even think about Tris exposed behind him right now.

They reach Uri and hear him shout at them as he runs up. "Zeke went to help Jack, oh no. Shauna?" Four was taking deep breaths, keeping his body calm as it struggled under Shauna's weight.

"Uriah, go, you need to get a doctor! Go!" Four knew they didn't have a lot of time and he couldn't move very fast with her so the doctor needed to be ready. He tries to keep his breathing steady but his worry for Shauna caused him to move faster than he should and he begins panting with the effort.

He climbs the stairs, each one a strain on his entire body, but the feel of Shauna's blood soaking his shirt forces him to keep moving. They are meet by Cara, Uriah, and the doctor. Four slowly lowers Shauna on the sheet placed down for her and the doctor gets to work right away. He turns and sees Tris' face overcome with shock. She begins to reach for him but he can't even touch her right now.

"I'm not going to pretend to know what's going on with you. But if you senselessly risk your life again-"

She cuts him off, "I am not senselessly risking my life. I am trying to make _sacrifices_ like my parents would have, like-"

That was rich! Here he was thinking she was doing this without any thought but she honestly believed that what she was doing related remotely to what her parents did for her. Deep down, Four knew she was just a young girl who had her whole world turned upside down and had no idea how to react but he couldn't see clearly right now.

"You are _not_ your parents. You are a sixteen year old girl-"

She cut him off again, "How _dare you-"_

He kept on yelling right over her, he had to get her to understand what she was doing to herself and him. "-who doesn't understand that the value of a sacrifice lies in its _necessity_ and not in throwing your life away! If you do that again, you and I are done."

Four realized what he said and how he said it but he knew deep down it was the truth. He couldn't keep going like this, he couldn't keep fighting her and begging her to protect herself if she didn't want to. He wasn't going to stand and wait while she got herself killed and left him behind to mourn her. It was not how he was going to live his life, in misery over his dead girlfriend who couldn't understand her life had value.

"You're giving me an ultimatum!" Tris was furious, he could tell by the way her eyes bore into his and how red her cheeks were. He found this so sexy and wanted to grab her and kiss her but he had to show her that she was more important than proving some point, whatever point she was trying to make.

"No, I'm telling you a fact. If you throw yourself into danger for no reason again, you will have become nothing more than a Dauntless adrenaline junkie looking for a hit, and I'm not going to help you do it. I love Tris the Divergent, who makes decisions apart from faction loyalty and isn't some archetype. But the Tris who is trying as hard as she can to destroy herself? I can't love her."

He watches her closely, gauging her reaction. Yelling may not bring her back to him, break her out of this person she has become after her parent's death and killing Will. He pushes aside the anger and fear of losing her and pulls from within the love and calmness she brings him.

He steps forward and presses his forehead against hers, trying to find that connection they once had. He closes his eyes and allows himself to feel the current running between them, finding that spark once more.

"I believe you're still in there. Come back." He kisses her lightly as she stands frozen. One last plea, no ultimatums, but wanting a promise they could go back to how they were. He was exhausted from this dance they had been doing, he just wanted to stand still for one moment and find solid ground again.

He pulls away from her and walks back to Shauna's side. He looks at the girl his best friend has had a crush on since they were first in initiation together. He brought her back for him and prayed she survived. He did not want to be the one to tell Zeke she was gone before he even had a chance with her.

He hears Tori and Tris talking about the meeting and eventually wanders over and leans against one of the bunks, wanting to listen but unable to contribute as of yet. Tori asks what Jeanine's terms were but he lets Tris answer for him.

"There were three, return Eric to Erudite, report the names of the people who did not get injected, and deliver the Divergent to Erudite headquarters." Four hears Tori scoff at those and realizes something. They couldn't survive at Amity, they didn't belong there. They can't survive at Candor, they don't belong here either. These people are still living under the faction before blood rule, no one is going to protect the Dauntless except themselves.

Tori looks at him and asks, "If Jack Kang is making deals with the Erudite, we can't stay here. Where can we go?"

No one says anything at first, they have no where to go. They are the new factionless. Finally Four realizes they have one thing that is different about them, they do have somewhere to go. It might be what they all need to overcome this and what he and Tris need to find their way back to themselves.

"Home," Four says, "We should take back what is ours. We can break the security cameras in Dauntless headquarters so the Erudite can't see us. Let's go home." He hears cheers and agreements being shouted and realizes the Dauntless have decided.

Bud speaks up as they group quiets down, "What do we do about Eric? Are we leaving him here or executing him?"

Lauren is the next one to speak, Four wants to hear what others have to say, he doesn't want to decide for everyone. "Eric is Dauntless, that means we decide what happens to him, not Candor."

"According to Dauntless law, only Dauntless leaders can perform an execution and with all five of our former leaders being traitors, we should pick new ones, " Tori points out, "If you have suggestions, shout them out."

Someone shouts Tori's name and then Four hears, "Tris" come from the crowd. The next names said were "Harrison" and then Tori surprises him.

"I nominate Four." He didn't want to be a leader but if they needed him he would step forward. He glanced at Tris and saw she was giving him a calculated look but then turned away. Whatever she thought his motive was she was wrong. She should know he never wanted to be a leader yet she doubted him. He wondered if this was because of the conversation she overheard with his mother but that was far from the truth.

Tori spoke up, breaking him out of his thoughts, "We only need three leaders, we need to vote." Four glances at Tris and wonders what she is thinking. The Dauntless respected her because she put her life on the line and took risks, unnecessary ones at that. He had no idea why she was trying to hard to fit into this lifestyle, she was so much better than Dauntless, she was Divergent. He knew if she was elected leader, nothing would stop her from making terrifying decisions, disregarding her own life.

As she looked at him, he saw something in her eyes, a spark of the old Tris, the sane one. She stepped forward and said, "No, I don't want it." He almost dropped to the floor, was this her showing him she was stepping back?

He gave her a small smile and realized he was now a Dauntless leader.


	21. Chapter 21: Trigger

**Two in one day, how is that for a Monday? :D**

* * *

As the Dauntless finish their meeting, they heard the bells of Candor's announcement system.

'_This should be good,' _Four thought. Before he even heard Jack's voice he knew it wasn't going to be news in their favor.

"Attention all occupants of Candor, I just returned from my meeting with Jeanine and she has some demands to keep our people free. Everyone is to report to the Gathering Place and inform us of who received an implant and who did not. Secondly, all Divergent are to turn themselves in to be handed over to Erudite, the reason is not known. That is all."

Four realizes how defeated Jack sounds, like a man whose hands are tied. He is thankful for the Dauntless teaching of continuing to fight even if it seems to be lost, clearly that was not believe in Candor. As the announcement ends, the room becomes a whirlwind of Dauntless packing and preparing to leave. A bunch of Dauntless leave the room and head for Eric. They find him in an interrogation chair and quickly surround him.

Tori steps forward, "Would you like me to tell you your crimes? Or would you like to list them yourself?" Eric looks up and sneers at the group. He searches the crowd until his eyes lock on Tris. Four steps slightly in front of Tris, not wanting him to look at her for a second longer.

"I want her to list them. She's the one who stabbed me, clearly she is familiar with them." Four thinks back to everything Eric did to torture Tris during initiation just because he found out Four had feelings for her and his anger boils over. Tris doesn't need anymore reminders of the horrors this war has already shown in her life.

"Leave her out of this," Four snaps. Eric turns his head toward Four and responds, "Why because you're doing her? Oh wait, I forgot Stiffs don't do that sort of thing. They just tie each other's shoes and cut each other's hair." Four knew what he was doing, he was trying to get Four to respond violently, kill him quickly. He knew Eric was smart enough to realize to get him to respond that way was to insult or attack Tris and he was right. She was his trigger.

"I want her to list them," he said, eyes locked on Four's, a smirk pulling his lips apart grotesquely.

Tris stepped forward, "You conspired with Erudite, you are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Abnegation." Four can hear her voice begin to rise with anger and wants to calm her down but doesn't step in for fear of Eric opening his mouth again.

Tris continues, practically spitting the words at Eric, "You betrayed Dauntless and shot a child in the head. You are a ridiculous plaything of Jeanine Matthews."

Eric continued to smirk at Tris, getting exactly what he wanted from her. Four felt sick to his stomach that he was so skilled at manipulating people and enjoyed it so much.

"Do I deserve to die?" Eric asked Tris. Four wanted to step in and save her from this decision but she was too quick to respond.

"Yes." Four watched Eric's eyes empty out of emotion but Four was not fooled, "Fine but do you have the right to decide that Beatrice Prior? Like you decided the fate of that other boy? Will?" Now was his time to step in as he watched Tris' face pale at the mention of Will. Eric fought dirty and Four wanted to smack that smart ass grin off his face.

"You have committed every crime that warrants execution among the Dauntless. We have the right to execute you, under the laws of Dauntless," Four states, sliding Tris behind him as she was still frozen from shock. Four crouches by the three guns by Eric's feet and begins to empty out the shells as is customary for a Dauntless execution. He places a bullet in the middle gun and moves the three guns on the floor.

Part of him prays that gun is in his hand, Eric has been a dark shadow on his life ever since they transferred together. He relentlessly taunted him during initiation, took Dauntless in a horrid direction, and made him fear his feelings for Tris while torturing her endlessly. He picked up the guns and handed one to Tori and one to Harrison. As he held the gun, he thought of all Eric had done to him personally and then to his old faction. He thought of all the Abnegation that were murdered in cold blood, what Eric did to Tris, causing her to murder one of her best friends and become what she is today. He deserved every bullet they had but would only received one.

Just as the three raised their guns, Eric speaks, "I have a request."

Tori responded without lowering her gun, "We don't take requests from criminals."

Eric wasn't going to back down, "I am a leader of Dauntless and all I want is for Four to be the one who fires the bullet."

"Why?" Four snaps. He has no idea why Eric is doing this but he must have a reason.

"So you can live with the guilt, of knowing you usurped me and then shot me in the head." Four almost laughed, after all these years Eric was still threatened by Four. He still thought Four was gunning for his position and somehow this was Four's fault. He realizes the type of person Eric is now, the type that enjoys watching others break, come apart at the seams. That is why he was so willing to go along with Jeanine's plan, why he loved torturing the initiates, and why he wanted Four to shoot him.

Unfortunately he forgot one thing, Four rarely regretted or feared anything, this was no different. "There won't be any guilt Eric, " Four says as he raises the gun.

Eric smiles at him and it's the last thing he'll remember, "Then you'll have no problem doing it."

As Four points the gun at Eric's head, Eric makes one last statement, "Tell me, I always wondered, is it your daddy who shows up in every fear landscape you've ever gone through?" Four ignores his goading, not willing to give Eric any satisfaction in this scenario. He loads a bullet into the chamber as Eric continues pushing Four into silent rage.

"You don't like that question? What, afraid the Dauntless are going to change their minds about you? Realize that even though you've only got four fears, you're still a coward."

That does it, Four holds the gun out with his shoulders straight, mind flashing back to the training room when he and Eric first learned how to fire a gun, when he was number one. He watched Eric straighten up and look him straight in the eyes.

"Eric, be brave." And he fired.


	22. Chapter 22: Return

Four watched Eric slump in the chair and he felt a small amount of tension leave his body, he hadn't realized he was holding his breath during that entire exchange with Eric. He heard the crowd become very loud and then they began to march toward the doors. He wondered what Jack would think of their choice, he was losing all his bargaining chips in one day, if only he had tried to fight instead of turn them in.

Four saw Tris standing still, shock covering her face, and he walked over and gently placed his hand on her back. He saw her begin to move but realized she wasn't reacting to the world around her, she was not processing the events yet. Suddenly the group stops moving and he hears Jack's voice up ahead.

"What have you done?" Jack sounds like he is also in shock of what he was about to lose, what he already lost.

"He was under our jurisdiction, we gave him a trial and executed him. You should be thanking us," Tori responded.

Jack couldn't even speak, his world crumbling around him and Four got some joy out of seeing him fall apart. He should feel this way after having just announced he was going to trade lives of people he didn't deem to be important enough to save.

"Why, why should I be thanking you?" he stammered. Tori just laughed, "Because you wanted him to be executed right? He murdered one of your children, a Candor member. We took care of it for you, and now if you'll excuse us we're leaving." She gave him a wide innocent look that caused Four to chuckle as they pushed past him.

"I can't let you do that," he finally gets out, addressing the crowd. This time it's Four who answers him, disgusted that Jack would think they would just hang around to be murdered or worse.

"You don't _let_ us do anything. If you don't step aside, we will be forced to walk over you instead of past you," he says fiercely.

Jack scowls at him, "Didn't you come here for allies? If you do this we will side with Erudite and you will never find an ally in us again." That made Four laugh out loud, some ally he was, selling them the first second he got to save his own skin.

Tori laughed as well, "We don't need you, we're Dauntless." With that the crowd pushed forward and burst out onto the street. Four sees Tris snap back to attention and begin to jog down the stairs. Everyone is running quickly out of the building, it reminds Four of initiation again when they all left the ceremony.

* * *

As they enter Dauntless headquarters, paintball guns are handed out to cover up the cameras. Four sees Tris standing at the railing of the chasm and watches as Zeke approaches her. Four lets her be, giving her some time to process the past few days and hoping Zeke can help pull her out of the mindset she has been in. Four heads out to make sure all the cameras are covered, he doesn't want Erudite to get one eye into this place. After coating the cameras he thinks about heading back to Tris but has to do one thing first.

He heads up the ladder, remembering the last time he was headed this way he had Tris with him. It was such a simpler time, the only problem he had was trying to figure out if she liked him and if he could make a move. Now he didn't know where they stood.

As he enters the room, he prepares the needle and injects himself. He lets the serum take over and as he goes under the fear takes over. Will he have the same fears? Will he have more? Will any have changed? Those are his last thoughts as his eyes flutter closed.


	23. Chapter 23: Twisted

Four finds all the Dauntless in the cafeteria and it appears they raided the kitchens. He feels the cuts on his hands and has no lie for them but he's hoping no one will notice, the fear landscape fresh in his brain. The first fears were the same, heights and confined spaces and the total number of fears were the same, Four, but the last two drastically changed and he couldn't get them out of his mind.

As he enters the room he hears Zeke shout his name and when he turns to the table he meets Tris' eyes. He immediately snaps back into the fear landscape he just finished.

_Four stands up after having calmed his breaths in the tight space to see a woman standing with her back to him, noticing she has blonde hair instead of black. Just as he realizes who it is, arms grab a hold of him and keep him in place. He is unable to break their grasp and he watches Tris turn around. She begins to say his name and then he hears it, the gun. He watches as a tiny hole appears in Tris' forehead and she slumps to the ground. Four screams, thrashes, pulls against the arms but he can't break free. She is lying on the ground and his entire body shatters. It feels as thought his lungs have collapsed from the pain of trying to bring in one breath. He begins shouting her name and the shouts turn to sobs. The arms release him and he slumps to the floor, his breath coming out in small choking sobs as he stares into the lifeless eyes of the woman he loves._

Four is snapped out of his nightmare and looks away from Tris' eyes, unsure if he will ever be able to look at her the same. It felt so real and his body froze up at the thought of a world without Tris in it. He slowly made his way over to the table and leans down next to Tris, still having a hard time looking into her eyes.

"Can I borrow you for a minute?" he asks, leading her out of the room. He takes a deep breath, reminds himself Tris is safe and alive with him yet he can't bring himself to turn around.

Where are we going?" he hears her ask.

"The train, I have a meeting and I want you there to help read the situation."

She seems confused and he can feel that distance separating them, his fear landscape adding to that distance. "Why do you need me?"

"Because you are better at it than I am." That is all he says, all he can manage to choke out. All he wants to do is grab her, wrap her up, and hide away. Instead he leads her to the platform and waits for the train. They have to pass through the glass ceiling room and he wonders if Tris notices the syringe lying on the floor.

He didn't have to wait long, this girl was so damn observant. "Did you go through your fear landscape today?"

He quickly turns and looks at her but has to look away, the cold lifeless eyes flashing through his mind. "What makes you say that?"

"Your knuckles are cut up and someone's been using the room."

He smiles to himself, "This is what I mean, you're far more perceptive than most. They told me to catch the one leaving at 8:05. Come on."

"Are you avoiding my question?"

He sighs, remembering how stubborn she can be when she wants answers. "Yes I did, I wanted to see if it had changed."

"Did it?"

"Yes, but the number is still the same." As if that is what is important. It was hard to believe a few months ago that was a sense of pride for him. What did it matter anymore? His fears ruled him anyway, he wasn't going to get rid of these four. He couldn't even look Tris in the eye after watching her die in his mind.

Normally he would turn and help her on the train but he was still having difficulty looking at her. He had to keep reminding himself she was alive and he shouldn't waste that time but he couldn't stop picturing her dead on the floor.

The train approaches and they both begin to jog. Four watches Tris struggle to get on the train but doesn't reach to help her. Instead he lets her pull herself in and jumps in after. How had they gotten here, it felt like there was a mile in between them. He watches her try to look at her leg but grimaces.

"Here let me." He gently pulls her pant leg up and analyzes the cut. It was nothing that would cause her injury, just a shallow wound. What he care about more is how close they are. If only he reached out one hand, he could wind it in her hair and pull her face to his but he stops himself. How long as it been? They seemed to be two separate entities lately, barely the couple everyone had come to talk about as if they were one person.

"It's shallow, it'll heal quickly." He pulls his hands away, aware of the burn racing across his palms but he shoves those feelings down.

"So is _he _still in your fear landscape?" Tris asks him. Four's breath hitches, that is the other fear he was trying to move past. He feels Tris looking at him but he can't answer, the memory flashing through his mind.

_After calming himself down and moving past Tris lying dead on the floor, he enters the model of his Abnegation home. He stands waiting for his father to come into the room but he doesn't. Instead he hears a struggle in the other room and pushes through the door. He sees Marcus hitting Tris with a belt. He runs to help her but their kitchen table gets in the way. As he moves to run around it he catches a glimpse of something. He notices a mirror behind Marcus and Tris that was never in there before. As his eyes focus on the mirror his breath again stops in his throat and he almost throws up. He sees it isn't Marcus in the mirror hitting Tris, it is Four. His eyes slowly drift over to where he has to save Tris and he sees Marcus had faded and it is now Four standing over Tris with the belt, "This is for your own good."_

Four snaps out of it and says as much of the truth as he can, "Yes, but not in the same way." He can't even look at her, afraid he will give away what changed. The worst part is, she would be the one he would have gone to immediately to have her reassure him that he wasn't his father.

"You're in it though. Instead of having to shoot that woman, I have to watch you die. And there is nothing I can do to stop it." His voice is barely a whisper, as if saying it out loud will make it true. He can feel his hands shaking, his body begin to shake and his breathing hitch. He clears his mind and attempts to control his emotions.

The worst part is Tris doesn't say anything which means either she doesn't understand how much he cares for her or plans on throwing her life away at some point. Finally he checks his watch and sees it's almost time.

"They'll be here any minute." As they stand, he sees Evelyn and Edward already standing by the tracks and jump on easily. Four hates the way Edward looks at him and is reminded again of how dangerous this man is.

Evelyn turns to him, blatanly ignoring Tris which drove Four crazy, "Hello. This seemed to be the safest place to meet since you asked for this meeting."

"Yes. I'd like to discuss an alliance." Four wasn't sure how to exactly go about this, he knew Evelyn had her own agenda and was a very dangerous woman. He wanted to use her to help his faction and Tris survive this war but he had to be careful. That is why he brought Tris, she was so much better at analyzing a person than he was.

"An alliance? And who gave you the authority to do that?" Edward chimes in.

Tris turned to Edward and answered, "He's a Dauntless leader, he has the authority." Four could hear the pride in her voice and knew they would find their way back to each other.

Evelyn looked at Tris but barely gave her any thought before she turned to Four. He could see the pride in her eyes as well but this made his stomach roll. He knew why she was happy and he didn't want Tris thinking that was why he took the job.

"Interesting," Evelyn replied, "And is _she_ a Dauntless leader as well." Four saw the same calculating, manipulative mannerisms in Evelyn that Marcus had. They would have made a powerful couple if Marcus wasn't such an awful human being.

"No, she's here to help me decide whether or not to trust you." Four saw Evelyn's eyes flash to Tris and realized she saw Tris as a threat to her need for controlling Four. He saw Tris flash a triumphant smile at Evelyn, realizing Tris obviously knew how Evelyn felt about her.

"We will of course agree to an alliance with some conditions of course. A guaranteed and equal place in whatever government forms after Erudite is destroyed and full control over Erudite data after the attack. Clearly-"

Tris interrupted her, "What are you going to do with the data?" Four was curious as well, why was that a condition? He wouldn't have cared but now that she brought it up it made him suspicious.

"Obviously we want to destroy it. The only way to deprive the Erudite of power is to deprive them of knowledge." Four wonders if that is the solution. Obviously they would all be better off without the constant threat of simulations but erasing all the data? Would that make their world a better place to live in? Even if they erased it all, Erudite would just seek it all again.

He wanted to hear what else she had to say, "What would we receive in return under those terms?" Evelyn smiled at him and it made him uncomfortable, as if she was trying to get him to see her side of it.

"Our much needed manpower in order to take Erudite headquarters and an equal place in the government with us." She acted as if that was the best offer in the world. Four wished he could pull Tris aside right now to talk about what she thought but he wanted all the facts first. It didn't seem like his mother was power hungry, maybe he had let his anger and resentment get in the way of judging her. Maybe she had left because she had no other option and honestly thought Four was better off with Marcus.

"I am sure Tori would also request the right to rid the world of Jeanine Matthews," Four stated, knowing Tori still harbored anger toward the woman who killed her brother.

Evelyn smiles, easily giving in, "I'm sure that can be worked out, I don't care who kills her as long as she is dead after this is finished." Four brought Tris along to help him make this decision but he truly believed it was their only option to taking Erudite down. He wasn't sure if completely destroying them was the option but they had no other man power and they needed the factionless.

He shouldn't make this decision without consulting Tris first but he only has this one chance. "Then we agree." He reaches out and shakes Evelyn's hand and he is instantly sent back to his childhood at the feel of her hand. The walks they took together when she would grab his hand to help him along, the soothing touch of that hand after a beating, the grip on his shoulder when they knew Marcus was almost home, and that last hug before she left for the hospital. It washed over him and he became that little boy again, hungry for his mother. He knew she was pulling him in and there was nothing to stop it. Tris may not understand but he had craved for affection from his parents for so many years this may be his chance to get it back.

"We will convene in a week's time in neutral territory. Most of the Abnegation have graciously agreed to let us stay in their sector of the city to plan as they clean up from the attack."

Four frowns at her choice of words, "Most of them?" Evelyn grimaces and Four can no longer tell if she is manipulating him or not, he was under her grip now.

"I'm afraid your father still commands the loyalty of many of them and he advised them to avoid us when he came to visit a few days ago. They agreed just as they did when he had them exile me."

Four felt his legs give out slightly, "Exiled? I thought you _left_." Evelyn gave him a sad smile, "No, the Abnegation were inclined toward forgiveness and reconciliation like you might expect but your father has a lot of influence over the Abnegation. I decided to leave rather than face the indignity of public exile."

Four can't say a word, she didn't abandon him. She chose to leave so she wouldn't be exiled. A little part of him hoped it was because she didn't want him to see her kicked out by Marcus. He knew she couldn't walk away from him; if only he hadn't let his anger get in the way when she contacted him last year. He wasn't going to make that same mistake twice, every thought of revenge flew out of his head. He was going to trust she wanted a relationship with him and move forward.

Edward yelled, "It's time." They both leap from the train and Four turns to Tris. He can feel her anger but has no idea what she might be angry about.

"Why did you bring me along if you were just going to make an alliance anyway?" she spit at him.

He turned to her, finally able to look her in the eye somewhat. "You didn't stop me." He didn't know she was having second thoughts. She was questioning Evelyn but he felt like she accepted their deal too. He knows he probably should have asked to talk to her in private but she gave him no reason to suspect she had suspicions.

"What was I supposed to do, wave my hands in the air? I don't like this." She scowled at him as if he was attacking her personally.

"It has to be done."

"I don't think it does, there has to be another way."

"What other way?" Four asked. "You just don't like her and haven't since you first met her." He shouldn't be bringing this up or using this in the argument but his new feelings toward his mother are telling him he needs to defend her.

"Obviously I don't like her! She abandoned you!" Four heard the pain in her voice she felt for him, heard how much she cared for him in that moment. This would be the moment he could help reconcile them, bring them back together, but his heart fires back before his brain can.

"They _exiled_ her. And if I decide to forgive her, you had better try to do it too! I'm the one who got left behind, not you." What was happening? Where had this person come from? He barely recognized himself anymore, stress changing him into a person he couldn't even stand to be around.

"This is about more than that. I don't trust her and I think she's trying to use you."

Four scoffed at that idea, although a tiny voice in the back of his mind told him he had those same suspicions before entering this train tonight. He pushed that voice away and snapped back at her, "Well it isn't for you to decide."

Tris threw up her hands, "Why did you bring me again? Oh yeah to read the situation for you. Well I read it and just because you don't like what I said doesn't mean-"

"I forgot how your biases could your judgment. If I had remembered, I might not have brought you." That did it, the words he never meant to say but the overwhelming feelings from his mother saying she never wanted to leave, true or not, caused them to pop out.

"My biases? What about your biases? What about thinking everyone who hates your father as much as you do is an ally!" How dare she bring Marcus into this, but was she right?

"This is not about him!" He couldn't even think about Marcus right now, so many things were swirling in his brain, especially his latest encounter with him in the fear landscape. Four didn't want to think about Marcus or how he may be slowly turning into him.

"Of course it is! He knows things, Tobias. And we should be trying to find out what they are!." Here she went again, wanting to team up with Marcus. Did she understand what she was asking him to do? Having a civilized conversation with that man was never going to happen.

"This again? I thought we resolved this. He is a _liar_ Tris."

"Yeah? Well so is your mother. You think the Abnegation would really exile someone? Because I don't."

"Don't talk about my mother that way." He realized that was the first time in a year he thought of her using that word. Ever since she met him that night and had tried to meet up with him, he had been thinking of her as Evelyn ever since. Tonight changed that but he would never change his mind about Marcus.

Tris looked like she had enough, Four had no idea how to get her back at this point and wondered if it was even worth it. Maybe they weren't meant to be together. Maybe it was just a physical attraction but this war caused him to see the real Tris and he wasn't sure if he liked her anymore.

"Fine, I won't." With that Tris jumped out of the train and took off running. Four knew he should go after her, he shouldn't leave things like this but he feared if he did it would only make things worse. As much as he was doubting their relationship right now, he knew deep down he couldn't live without her. She had changed him and one way or the other they would find their way back to each other.

He walked slowly through the halls of the compound and found his old apartment. He lay down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, realizing he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight. How had everything gotten so twisted in just a matter of weeks?


	24. Chapter 24: Promise

**I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long, life got away from me! I am getting to the chapters I have wanted to write for so long. I will try with everything in me to update again very soon! Sorry for the long wait, please enjoy! Feel free to review if you get a chance, I always enjoy them :)**

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Four was awoken to pounding on his door and he groggily wandered over to it. He was hoping it was Tris, they still hadn't talked since their big fight on the train but when he opened the door he saw Tori.

"What is going on Tori?" She had tears streaked down her face and he immediately woke up.

"It happened, somehow Erudite saw into our compound. More people are dead." Four's heart dropped, was Tris alive? He grabbed a shirt and threw on his shoes, "Who?" he demanded of her.

"Hector barely escaped with his life but Marlene didn't make it," she said with tears filling her eyes again. His heart broke for Uriah, he had just gotten together with her and now he lost someone in this stupid war too.

"How?"

Tori must have known that question was coming, "The serum. All we can figure out is Jeanine activated those two and possible someone else's after having gotten a view from a camera we missed. Tris saved Hector's life."

Four blanched at her name, "What happened?"

Tori started walking, "I'll fill you in on the walk. Let's go!" As they walked she began talking, "They were up on the roof and Tris and Christina were trying to get them to come away from the ledge. Christina said Marlene spoke in a robotic voice warning us that if the Divergent didn't surrender they would continue killing us off one by one."

Four stopped walking and began to turn in the other direction, "Tris, I have to get to her. She will go to them Tori." Tori grabbed his arm and spun him around, anger flashing on her face.

"No! You are a leader now, the entire population of Dauntless is your concern, not just your girlfriend. She has to come second."

"I can't do that Tori, she is my life."

Tori shook her head, "No Dauntless is your life now, unless you are going to step down." She gave him a hard look asking him if he could do this.

"Fine, let's get this over with." They headed toward the meeting room where Harrison was already waiting, Four's mind was only on Tris, how long did he have before she would go to Erudite to sacrifice herself? This was the moment she was waiting for and he couldn't let her do it, he had to get to her.

* * *

The meeting seemed to drag forever and they hadn't come a conclusion. The only decision made was to scour the compound and cover any last camera left, hoping to slow Jeanine down but now that she knew they were there it wasn't likely. Four sprinted out of the meeting to find Tris, not listening to Tori yelling behind him.

He entered the cafeteria to find her sitting by Zeke and let out the breath he didn't know he was holding, she was safe. He walked over and sat down right next to her, not caring about their fight the night before.

"Hello Tris." He sat down and put his arm around her. No fight was more important than keeping her here now. She smiled at him and connected with his stare, he tries to express every emotion he had toward her in that stare.

"Aren't you going to ask me if I am alright?" she asks. He knows this voice, the one that is telling him she can't handle this. She would never admit it out loud, always having to prove how tough she is, but he knows her.

"No, I'm pretty sure you aren't all right. I'm going to ask you to not make any decisions until we've talked about it." He jumped right to it, knowing her brain has already formed a plan but he would talk her out of it, he had to.

There it was, flashing across her eyes so quick he would have missed it, if he hadn't been desperately looking for it. The plan, somehow she was going to turn herself in and he wasn't going to allow it.

"Until we've talking about it, you mean, since it involves all of us," says Uriah," I don't think anyone should turn themselves in." Four didn't even notice him sitting here, he was so much quieter than usual. He could have kissed him though, he knew sometimes other people had much more sway with Tris than he did.

"No one?" Tris asked angrily, giving away her position to Four, she was going to do it if he didn't stop her. Only Uriah's pain may keep her here, having been the pain that caused her to make this decision.

"No! We need to attack them back!" Uriah shouted.

That was a direction Four didn't want but Tris was quick to react as well. "Yeah let's attack the woman who can force half of the compound to kill themselves. That sounds like a great idea."

Four had no idea who this girl was, where was the compassion or caring for others? The old Tris would never had said anything that caused that much pain to affect a friend but that Tris was dying and he had to save her.

"Don't talk about her like that!" Uriah growls at Tris. Four was losing this argument and he had to get control, had to get her to agree.

"Tori, Harrison, and I decided to increase security and hopefully if everyone is more aware of these attacks we will stop them," Four said. It was the best he could do, knowing it wouldn't reassure her at all. "If that doesn't work, then we will think of anther solution but no one is going to do anything yet, ok?" He looked right at her, pressing this into her.

"Okay," she replied but the way she didn't meet Four's eyes which told him she had other plans. He had to keep her with him at all times. Unfortunately Tori approached their table that very moment, "Four you need to come now, we have to discuss something." Four looks at her but her eyes are hard, no negotiating. He had to show her he was serious about this. He gave Tris a small kiss on the top of her head and walked off, praying she would stay here long enough for him to get out of this meeting.

The meeting was about whether any Divergent should be assigned watch duty. Most people were afraid of them but they were the only ones who weren't affected by the serum. They finally decided to create a mixed group and after they assigned new people to their stations, Four rushed around the compound looking for Tris. He couldn't find her anywhere and finally walked slowly back to his apartment. He had to change and then would continue to look for her. As he approached his place, he noticed the door was slightly open.

His hand slowly pushed the door open further as he crept inside and saw Tris curled up in his quilt. She looked up at him with a guilty look on her face and then a slow smile spread across it from being caught in the act. Four approached her and moved closer.

"Don't be an idiot!" Four says before he can think it through.

The smile disappeared. "An idiot?" she asks innocently, trying to distract him, but it didn't work.

"You were lying. You said you wouldn't go to Erudite and you were lying. Going to Erudite would make you an idiot so don't." He noticed too much emotion was slipping through his voice. He had meant to have this conversation with her as her leader and former trainer, not her boyfriend. He felt that strength was needed but then again he had already tried that with her and failed. Maybe vulnerability was the key. Maybe he should appeal to her Abnegation side of thinking.

Tris stood up, "Don't try to make this simple, it's not. You know as well as I do that this is the right thing to do." Four huffs and moves closer to her, keeping his eyes soft.

"You choose this moment to act like the Abnegation? All that time you spent insisting you were too selfish for them and now when you _life_ is on the line you've got to be a hero? What's wrong with you?" Anger was seeping into his voice but not anger at her but himself. He was angry he allowed himself to become so close with someone that hey could affect him this much.

"What's wrong with you? People died. They walked right off the edge of a building. And I can stop that from happening." Four wanted to grab her and shake her to get her to understand what she was saying. It sounded very noble now, marching off to save everyone else, but what happened when they killed her?

"You're too important to just….die." His voice broke on that last word, a world without Tris was not a world worth living in. He's trying to not look at her, flashes of his fear landscape appearing in his brain. Tris lying there lifeless on the floor, blood spreading around her. He shook his head to try to rid it of the image but it was glued there permanently.

"I'm not important, everyone will do just fine without me." He could hear her testing him in that sentence, asking him to tell her she was important to him. He didn't want to give in, he wanted her to tell him he was important to her but he loved her too much. He saw in that moment a scared, frightened teenage girl who had lost her whole world and seen more death than any one should. He had to show her that life was worth living.

"Who cares about everyone else? What about _me?_" That was the question Four had wanted to ask her continuously these past few weeks. Why was she so worried about everyone else? When had she forgotten about him? His head dropped, emotion exhausting his body.

The words weren't enough so he used every last tool he had. He marched across the room toward her, wrapped her up in his arms, and kissed her. That kiss, one his body has been craving for months, pushes away all the doubt and anger between them and pulls them back to where they were before this mess, just a boy who gave his heart away in a chasm. The boy who flirted with danger to speak to a girl who drove him crazy that night in the Pit.

Four feels her kiss him back but then she pulled back. It wasn't enough to erase her demons and she held him away from her, as if to protect herself from that contact. He knows if he could continue to kiss and hold her he would pull her out of this but for some reason she was fighting it, holding on to those bad memories.

"You _would_ be fine. Not at first but you would move on and do what you have to do," she murmurs into his shirt, unable to look at him.

Four's heartbreaks at that sentence, how could she think that? She was lying to herself to make this decision easier for herself, convincing herself she could live without him. Who was she to decide what he could and couldn't live without? Well he wasn't going down without a fight, he would show her what she was giving up. He wrapped an arm around her and whispered in her ear, "That's a _lie,_" before kissing her again.

Four feels her begin to give in, her arms wrap around his and her kisses become more feverish. He slowly walks backward until they hit the bed. Four sits down quickly and Tris stands over him, the sexiest she has ever looked. He stares right into her eyes, the ones he fell in love with so long ago in the net, and gently caresses her face. He runs his hands down her neck, sides, and rests them on her hips, feeling her shiver at his touch. She leans in to kiss him this time and he knows he's got her, she is going to stay to figure this out together. They make such a great team and they will solve this problem with the help of their friends.

He pushes himself into that kiss, feeling her hand slide up his back and his hands grab her side under her shirt. He doesn't want to push this now but he has no idea the next time they will have this chance but just as quickly as it started, it ends. He has to hear her promise first so he pulls back, not wanting to give that part of himself up until he knows she is going to protect her own life.

He looks into her eyes, eyelids heavy, "Promise me you won't go. For me, do this one thing for me." He begs her, wants to know he is as important to her as she is to him. She hesitates and it almost pulls him out of his passion flooded brain but then she answers, "Okay."

He wanted to believe her but she has done the wrong thing so many times before. He had to hear her say it, "Promise." He truly believes she wouldn't lie to him, not when they were this intimate, had finally mended the issues between them.

"I promise." With those two words, Four wraps her up in his arms and holds her tight. A small part of him doesn't trust her so his grip holds her to him but as sleep slowly takes him over, he feels that grip loosen. That night he dreams of a life with Tris without this war. A life where they can be normal teenagers, date, explore their relationship, and be together without the threat of all this hanging over their heads. It is a time when he is finally happy, truly relaxed, and knows that that time will come soon as long as they stay together.


	25. Chapter 25: Betrayed

**So this is my take on what may have happened to Four after Tris left. I was thinking of writing what he was up to while she was there but I am just going to skip forward when Four decides to go save her.**

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Four slowly began to wake up and reached his arm out to pull Tris back into him. It hit mattress. His eyes flew open and saw her side of the bed was empty and felt cold. His heart dropped but he quickly stopped himself. She had promised, she would not have left like that, she was probably just in the cafeteria or something.

Four quickly got dressed and ran down to the cafeteria, scanning the tables for that telltale blonde head. Nothing. Then he saw Christina and figured she had to know where she was. As he approached Christina, he saw her staring at the table but not eating her food.

"Christina?" Four moved to sit next to her. Something wasn't right, something in her eyes worried him. "Have you seen Tris? This morning when I woke up, she was gone from my room. Did she come back to the dorms last night or this morning?" The hope in his voice was killing him, he was barely holding onto it and just needed Christina to say the right words.

"Didn't she tell you? She was going to visit her brother in Abnegation. She came and found me this morning to tell me that and that Marcus knows why Erudite attacked and we had to find out."

Four stopped breathing. She had lied to him, comforted him, kissed him and then left. She manipulated him just as his father would to get what she wanted out of him. This one act confirmed to him that he loved her more than she loved him, if she even did at all.

At first he felt numb, but now he felt an anger rise up in him that had never been there before and Christina was the only one around to receive that anger.

"WHAT!? And you just thought you would let Tris go running off to Abnegation while we are at war, when someone wants her dead? What were you thinking? How could you?" He grabbed a bowl on the table and threw it across the room but it didn't make him feel better, be wanted to punch things and shoot things until all of these emotions left his body. Christina looked terrified and then became angry herself.

"Why is it my responsibility to keep her here? Maybe if you weren't acting like such an asshole these past few weeks she would have stayed. You are too worried about becoming a leader than the relationship you fought so hard for during initiation!" Christina was tall and almost came up to his height as she was screaming in his face.

"Do you even understand what has happened? Tris didn't go to Abnegation, she just went to turn herself in to Erudite. I was protecting her from herself, she can't help but sacrifice herself after everything she's been through. You should have stopped her, made her see reason, but no now she's probably dead already!"

The yelling was drawing a crowd and Zeke came rushing in and pushed the two apart. He turned to Four, "What is the matter with you? People should not see a leader reacting this way! What has gotten into you?"

Four turned to Zeke, a new victim for his anger when it should be directed at Tris. "Well Tris felt the need to go sacrifice herself and Christina here just let her walk on out of the compound." Zeke turned to check with Christina and when she nodded her head that was all Four needed, the verification that Tris had indeed left to sacrifice herself without even a thought toward Four's well-being. He turned and ran, sprinted out of the cafeteria.

"Four!" Zeke shouted after him but he had to get out of there. He was going to head to the chasm, where he used to clear his head, but that was their place now and he couldn't be around where memories of her were.

Instead he found himself a nice dark corner of the practice room to sit in and wallow in his thoughts. He had laid it all out on the line for Tris last night, he would not survive without her. She was a part of him he couldn't live without like his lung or heart. For her to completely blow that off and leave, to sacrifice herself for others, it showed that her love to him was so insignificant it didn't matter to her. If the roles were reversed and she asked him to stay for him, he wouldn't have given it any second thought, he would have stayed. Eventually Four slipped into a light sleep and his mind relaxed, pouring through all the great memories they had.

Four awoke to the sound of the door opening, for a brief minute he thought it was Tris but realized he may never see her again. That was when the tears started; at the thought of never seeing the girl who changed him again. He buried his face in his hands as Zeke sat down beside him, staying silent. After a few minutes, Four pulled himself together and turned to the best friend he has had since he transferred.

"How are you man?" Zeke asked, "For real, not that fake answer everyone usually gives."

Four laughs because he was ready to give that answer. Maybe it would be good to talk about this, even thought it wasn't something he was used to with anyone besides Tris. There was that knife again, would it cut every time he thought her name?

"I feel so betrayed. Last night she promised me she wouldn't leave and then waited for me to fall asleep and left the first chance she got. What does that say about our relationship?" Four asked Zeke.

Zeke just took a deep breath, "Well haven't you said it's been bad since the war, you've been fighting a lot? Maybe you guys aren't supposed to be together, it might not work out."

Four almost hit him, "No, she is who I'm supposed to be with! If this stupid war hadn't happened she would be siting here next to me right now. What was she thinking? I keep thinking she will come walking through that door but for all we know she is already dead." Tears welled up in his eyes again and he let them silently fall down his cheeks. He realized how emotional he was being in front of Zeke right now but either he didn't care or understood.

"She's still alive, she has to be. Jeanine has been itching to get her hands on one of you for so long, she isn't going to waste this opportunity." Zeke pointed out which made Four feel worse.

"Thank for pointing out she is probably being tortured right now, that helps," Four said, feeling anger rise up in him again.

"Whoa man, calm down. All I meant was we have a chance to save her. We need to come up with a plan and get her out of there. Even if it's you and me, if she means as much to you as I think she does, we'll go in and get her."

Four shook his head in agreement, leave it to Zeke to see things with a clear head. But then he realized something, "What if she doesn't want me to save her? What if she doesn't feel the same way about me anymore?"

"C'mon, you are Four, Dauntless badass. No girl can resist you, just brood a little bit and she will come running back to you. That's your problem, you've been smiling too much, your face looks weird when you smile." Four reached out and took a playful swing at Zeke, leave it to him to lighten the mood.

"Let's go, everyone is worried about you and you owe Christina an apology." Four got up and followed Zeke out of the room, but not before giving him a smack on the head.

"Alright let's go plan a rescue mission, I need my girl back so I can stop smiling at her." They both laughed as they walked out of the room; Four's laugh a little empty at the space beside him that was usually filled with Tris. He would get her back and show her once and for all that they belonged together.


	26. Chapter 26:Repercussions

Four felt like a caged animal, it had been a week and they still had no news of Tris or what Erudite was up to. His friends were doing their best to distract him but he couldn't take it any longer. If they didn't have any news that day, he was going to go there himself.

As he entered the cafeteria, he saw them all huddled around whispering, no doubt about the situation and how he was beginning to crack around the edges. They stopped talking the minute he approached and knew they were talking about him.

"Hey Four, we were thinking of getting together tonight for a little party. I know you aren't in the mood but maybe it would be good for you," Zeke said. He wished he could just accept they were being nice to him but it was all a sting in the face. They thought hanging out as couples would cheer him up.

"Whatever." Four turned and walked out of the room. He found his seat in the chasm and closed his eyes, remembering when he and Tris came down here. He had spilled all his secrets to her that night and felt that she was the one he was meant to be with. It felt like a lifetime ago but his devotion to her never failed. He had to get to her, if she was going to die, he didn't want to live.

That night as his friends were distracted getting ready for the party he snuck out. He couldn't sit by anymore while they did God knows what to Tris. He jumped on the train and developed a plan for getting into Erudite headquarters. He didn't care that he was a Dauntless leader or could possibly help overthrow Jeanine, he had to be with Tris.

As he stepped off the train, Erudite loomed in front of him. Somewhere in that builing his girlfriend was being held captive and he was going to at least see her one more time before they killed her. He walked up and opened the front door, stepping inside and noticing the busy bodies swarming around. No one noticed him at first until he walked up to the front desk and slammed his hands down on the counter.

"I'm here to see Jeanine Matthews, she has something of mine." The receptionist looked up and about had a heart attack.

"Well, I was wondering when you would come, " came a voice from behind him. He turned and saw her disgusting blue dress and blonde hair. "What took you so long Four? Or should I call you Tobias?" Jeanine asked. At that moment, the thoughts of saving Tris went out the window and all he wanted to do was kill that horrible woman. The woman, who murdered half of his old faction, and the woman who slowly drove a wedge between him and Tris. "She has been screaming both so I'm not sure which one you prefer."

He lunged at her and got in three solid hits before he felt the butt of a gun barrel connect with the back of his head. His vision went foggy and he felt himself being pulled up by two Dauntless traitors. He struggled against them but they held him tight. Jeanine just smirked at him while wiping blood from the corner of her mouth.

"You are going to have to try better than that. I'm glad you came though, you will be a useful tool in getting the information I need from your girlfriend. And then you can have a front row seat when I execute her."

With that Four launched himself out of the Dauntless' arms and went after Jeanine again but another soldier stepped up and smashed him in the face with his gun. These Dauntless weren't stupid, they knew who he was and knew they needed to use excessive force to subdue him. He felt himself being dragged up the stairs and down a long hallway.

Oddly they stopped moving and just held him there. He was about to ask why when he saw two familiar faces turn the corner. He felt the gun barrel press into the back of his skull but he doesn't care. His worst fear was he would arrive here and Tris would already be dead but his whole body floods with relief when he sees her walking toward him. What makes anger swell into his body is the fact that Peter is leading her and his eyes focus on the arm Peter has on Tris and how badly he wants to break it.

He sees Tris' lips move but he can't process what she is saying. As she approaches, his hand shoots out and wraps around hers squeezing it to further reassure himself that she is alive. He lets go as she passes him wishing he could wrap her up in his arms instead.

'What did you do?" she hisses at him. He knew she would be mad, she came here to sacrifice herself and didn't want anyone else to follow but he had asked her not to do this so he came to join her.

"You die, I die too. I asked you not to do this and you made your decision. These are the repercussions." He didn't want to yell at her, he wanted their last moments together, if they got any, to be filled with love but he had to make her realize she made the wrong decision in coming here.

He feels himself being dragged around the corner and he strains to see her one last time. He sees just a glimpse of her collapse and Peter shoves her toward her cell. Four wishes he could be with her but he knows from here on out it is going to be a battle of the minds, Jeanine is going to do everything in her power to wear both of them down mentally and emotionally.

The only thing that mattered to him was that if Tris was going to die, he was going to die with her. He wasted all that time fighting and arguing with her but when it came down to it all it was, was wasted time. His guards threw him into his cell, which he knew was conveniently placed along the route Peter would walk Tris and curled up in the corner. His entire body was throbbing but the only thought in his mind was the small blonde down the hall and how he was going to get her out of here alive or die trying.


	27. Chapter 27: Hopeless

**Thank you all for your patience! As many people have pointed out in reviews, summer is almost here for this teacher and I have a LOT in store for you! Not only do I plan on finishing this story, if that isn't done before, but I have 3 stories outlined already and waiting to be read by all of you! I hope you enjoy this chapter, these are more of just my writing because we were never really told what was happening to Four during Tris and his time in Erudite. I believe Jeanine would have done anything in her power to torture the both of them so here's my take on it! Sorry if there are errors, I kept myself up late to type this! Enjoy and feel free to shoot me a review, they do make my day :)**

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Four was wrenched from his restless sleep early in the morning by two Dauntless traitors. They pulled him up and dragged him out of his room. As they removed him he glanced down the hall toward Tris' cell. Was she in there? Was he too late? He had stayed up as late as he could listening for any trouble down the hallway, not that it would have done any good.

He was thrust into a room that had a large glass wall facing into what looked like a science laboratory. The traitors pushed him down into a chair and stood behind him, keeping him in this room. He sat for about 10 minutes wondering why he was here until he saw the doors open. There was Peter leading Tris in, she looked defiant as Jeanine entered the room with scientists. He saw Jeanine give Peter a command and before he could figure out what it was, he saw Peter lift Tris and slam her down on the table.

Four leaped out of his chair and began banging on the glass, screaming Tris' name. The two traitors didn't stop him but would never let him leave this room. He realized Tris couldn't see him or hear him but Jeanine knew he was here. She turned and smirked toward the wall where he was. Smirked as Four watched Tris get held down on the table and scream at Jeanine. His fists slammed into the glass again and again until they split open. His voice screamed her name until it became raw. Finally he sat back down and blindly stared ahead.

He was sitting no more than a minute before the guards standing behind him were suddenly on top of him beating him, kicking him, and he had no energy to stop them. He realized this would be where he sat, each day until they killed her. Jeanine was going to make him watch her torture the woman he loved. He felt the cut on his forehead and could feel the bruises setting in already and his leg was throbbing but he wasn't going to give Jeanine the benefit of looking beat.

He walked in proudly, wanting to give Tris strength, with the traitors behind him. He saw sadness in Tris' eyes and he had to keep her strong, keep her fighting until he could get them out of there.

"What is this?" he voice cracked from the yelling he had been doing a minute earlier. He had to get to her, his body was screaming out for and he pulled against the traitors holding him.

"Tris," he said trying to get to her but being held back, "Tris, are you okay?" He knows she isn't but they were both trained in Dauntless and were taught to look past physical injury.

"Yeah, are you?" she responded. Four just nodded knowing his voice would give away the amount of pain he was in. Jeanine interrupted their reunion and Four wanted to smack her across her smug face.

"Rather than waste any more time, I thought I would take the most logical approach. Truth serum would be preferable but it would take days to get Jack to hand that over and I'd rather not waste that much time." As she was talking, Four saw her move toward Tris with a needle filled with gray serum. He pulled against the men holding him but he wasn't going to get free.

"In a few seconds I will inject Tris with this liquid and at that point I assume you will try to save her and tell me what I want to know." Tris looked between the two of them, not able to put together the information Four would have that Jeanine would want but he knew immediately what she needed from him.

"What does she want?" Tris asked and Four answered her, "Information about the factionless safe houses." He didn't even hesitate, knowing she wanted to know where all the Divergent were hiding. He saw Tris' eyes widen, realizing Four would know that because of Evelyn and began to shake her head.

"Four, don't give it to her, I'm going to die anyway. Don't give her anything." His heart broke, watching her plead with him to sacrifice her life to protect others. He saw in her eyes she didn't want to die anymore, she realized what that meant. He could save her, but he had to be smart about it. He had to make Jeanine believe she had the power so she would relax and make mistakes.

"Remind me, Mr. Eaton, what do Dauntless simulations do?" Jeanine asked him with a smirk. Four hated when people played with him, just tell him whatever she wanted to, don't play games.

"This isn't a classroom, tell me what you are going to do." He ground his teeth and held back from trying to reach her. He could see she noticed how he strained against the arms holding him, hating the thought of that syringe near Tris.

"I will if you answer my question." Four looked at Tris and knew he would do anything to keep her safe. "Fine, the simulation stimulates the amygdala which is responsible for processing fear and it induces a hallucination based on that fear and transmits the data to a computer to be processed."

"Very good. When I was developing the Dauntless simulation years ago, we discovered that certain levels of potency overwhelmed the brain and made it insensible with terror to invent new surroundings. This is why we diluted the solution so the simulations would be more instructive." He saw the evil glint in her eyes and guessed what was in that needle. "I still remember how to make it."

Four pulled harder and felt his captors straining to hold him now, if only he could break free. Jeanine continued talking at him and he just wanted to get to the point.

"Fear, is more powerful than pain. So is there anything you'd like to say before I inject Ms. Prior?" Tris looked into his eyes and shook her head slightly. He held firm, trying to be strong for her. Jeanine turned and injected Tris with the serum. He watches her face clench and strain against whatever is happening in her head and her chest begins to rise and fall quicker and quicker. Before he can process it all she beings screaming, it is a scream that will forever haunt his dreams. He slacks into the grip of the traitors and then snaps away from them. He takes one down with a punch to the jaw but the other traitor is ready for him.

Two things he realized about being a legend in Dauntless. One is that people are afraid of you but the second thing is that people know so much about you that if they are motivated enough they can train themselves how to fight against your strengths. That is what this traitor was doing, playing against all of Four's strengths. As much as he tries, he cannot overcome the second man before reinforcements come. Suddenly he hears Tris screaming and the distraction is enough for the others to get their arms around him.

"What are you doing? Stop!" He is turned to see her eyes filled with fear facing him. The hallucinations must be making her see something that isn't there.

"Tris, I'm not doing anything, Tris!" She continues to scream at him and he watches her heart race on the monitor and is pulling against the four men now holding him screaming back at her. Finally Jeanine puts a stop to it and sedates Tris. He calms down as her heart rate calms down and Four is now seething. He is envisioning every way he can possible make Jeanine suffer for everything she had done to them. He sees Tris being to sob and wonders she she saw him doing.

"Let me go." His voice was so hoarse and he had never been so sore in his life but he would not watch her endure that again, her life was more important than all the Divergent combined. "That's the only way I'll tell you, if you let me go." He stared Jeanine down until she nodded at her men and he didn't waste a second.

Four ran over to Tris and wrapped a hand around her hand and wound his fingers in her hair. He tried to touch every inch of her with all of him because he knew it wouldn't last, there was a time limit to this moment together and he intended to make the most of it. He leans down and presses his forehead to hers, wishing so desperately they were back in the Dauntless compound safe with their friends. Instead they would most likely watch each other die trapped in Erudite if he was unable to get them out of here.

"The factionless safe houses," he said without moving away from Tris, "Get me a map and I'll mark them for you." He pulled back from Tris slightly, his body already screaming at the space between them, but wanting to create the space himself without having anyone force him off from her.

He could feel their arms around him, pulling him away and he held onto her hand as long as possible. He watches her hand fall onto the table and he wishes he could die on that spot. He is pulled from the room and escorted back down the hall to his cell. As they are walking, they pass the one person he thought he would never see again.

"Caleb?" The man stops walking and turns back to him. "Four? What are you doing here? What is he doing here? This wasn't part of the plan!" Caleb is addressing his guards now but they don't answer. Four was confused, what plan was Caleb talking about? How was he here walking around and free? Suddenly it dawned on him and he almost broke free if not for the extra men holding onto him.

"You traitor! You bastard! How could you? She is your sister! What did you sell her out for, books? They are going to kill her, did you think of that? The only family ou have left and you brought her here to be murdered. The next time I get my hands on you I'm going to kill you!" Four continued yelling profanities at him as they shoved him in his cell, watching Caleb's face pale at the sight of his anger. He slammed his hands against the door screaming Caleb's name over and over again until he slumped against the door, feeling more hopeless than before. How could he save Tris now when her own flesh and blood wanted her dead? Four felt himself slide into unconsciousness as his dreams took him back to a happier place, lying with Tris by the chasm.


	28. Chapter 28: Tomorrow

**I truly apologize for the long breaks between updating. This is my last week of school and as exciting as it is for summer break to be so few days away, the last week of school for teachers is so exhausting! I hate making excuses but so much is going on with getting my students ready for summer, packing up my classroom, and getting all required items finished before Friday, I can barely keep my eyes open past 6:00 PM. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I promise when school is over, I will finish this story and start my other ones, especially extending Everything They Wanted! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I will try to update as soon as I can!**

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The pattern continued for Four. He was dragged every day from his cell down the hall and put into the little room with two guards. He noticed after his first visit, two more guards were stationed outside the door but they never entered. From here he was subjected to watch Tris endure simulation after simulation administered by Jeanine.

He watched as fellow Erudite gathered around her and took notes, answered questions from Jeanine, and looked at Tris like a science experiment. He gave up pounding on the glass after the first week and felt that this would continue until Jeanine either got what she wanted or decided neither of them were worth her while.

Today, he realized, Tris was in simulation again and he knew that Jeanine was using Four inside that simulation. He saw Tris' body reacting and he hated Jeanine with every fiber of her being for putting Tris through this. He had no idea how she faced each simulation, assuming she had to endure being rescued by him over and over again. This particular one didn't last long though and Jeanine was furious. Tris always figured out she was in a simulation and Four loved how it made Jeanine go crazy.

"We can't get out of here, because this is a simulation. You aren't under a simulation, you are the simulation. You'll have to do better than that Jeanine." He heard Tris say and watched Jeanine lose her usual common composure. "What is it?" Four lunges at the glass as he sees Jeanine grab Peter's gun and press it against Tris' head. He begins screaming and pounding his firsts against the glass again to no avail.

Tris doesn't even flinch and Four is proud of her bravery but his heart is in his throat, praying Jeanine doesn't overreact. 'What is it that clues you in? Tell me or I will kill you." Four watches Tris smile slightly, knowing her worth to Jeanine but Four yells out to be safe, stay smart. Of course she doesn't and Four admires the fight in her.

As they talk, Four watches Tris launch herself at Jeanine and he screams out again, watching Tris claw at any exposed skin and he wishes he could be in there to fight with her. The Dauntless traitors in his room leap at him and hold him down, keeping his head pointed at the window. They force him to watch as Peter wraps his arms around Tris and punches her in the side. She tries to get at Jeanine but Peter doesn't let her go. Four curiously notices that Peter holds her a little gentler than the last time he dragged her into the room but the moment passes. Tris continues to scream at Jeanine as Peter removes her from the room.

After she leaves, Four watches Jeanine tear apart the room and turn her gaze onto his window. She motions toward the window and Four feels them begin to drag him out of the room. They throw him at the feet of Jeanine and he struggles to stand. He pulls himself up right and stares Jeanine in the eye.

"Things not going as planned?" he chokes out, pain lancing through his side from where the guards kicked him earlier that week. Jeanine turns to him and slaps him across the face, Four's head snaps back with the force of her hand.

"Who do you two think you are? You are no better than any of the rest of us? What makes you so special? If I shoot you in the head, you will die like the rest of us so why don't my simulations work on you? I will find out and you will be my first witness at conquering the Divergent plague starting with your bitch of a girlfriend! Either she cooperates or she dies." With that Jeanine turns and walks out of the room leaving me crumpling to the floor. All his hope for surviving and rescuing Tris left the room after today's events. He felt that they would not make it out alive and just hoped they would be allowed to leave this world together.

(Page Break)

Four wakes up in his cell and hears footsteps down the hallway. He moves toward the door and looks out the small window and sees Peter at Tris' cell. He enters and stays for several minutes which is strange to Four. Usually Peter only enters Tris' cell to remove her for more testing. After a few minutes, he exits without Tris and Four fears the worst. He sees Peter walking toward him and bangs on the window, "Peter! Peter!" Peter stops, looks Four in the eye and sneers. He moves toward the door and Four sees him talking to the guard.

The door swings open and there he is. Four takes a step back and Peter enters his cell. "The mighty Four reduced to a whimpering, begging captive. Who would have thought I would rise above you, the Dauntless legend. I certainly didn't when you were beating the shit out of me in that hallway when I almost had my way with your scrawny girlfriend." Four held back his anger, knowing Peter was trying to goad him but visualizing beating him until he couldn't talk any longer.

"Well good news for you, you've just been upgraded to test subject. Jeanine feels you would be worthwhile to her quest to rid our city of the Dauntless epidemic." Four took a second to process Peter's words and analyzed the look on his face, Tris was always better at reading people but he felt he was missing something. He racked his brain, why would Jeanine start testing on him? Tris was more Divergent than anyone he had come across while training at Dauntless, Four never had the ability that she did.

The only way that Jeanine would need him would be…his heart stopped beating. He turned toward Peter and the look on Peter's face confirmed his worst fear.

"She is going to kill her? When?" Peter laughed, "You are a quick one Four. I thought I was going to have to string you along for much longer." Four had no patience, he had to know how much time he had to save the woman he loved.

Peter refused to answer him and Four lunged at him. He wrapped his hands around his throat, "How long!" He bellowed and Peter shoved him off. He turned to walk away and Four thought he was going to leave him without an answer. Just before the door closed, he heard Peter say, "Tomorrow, maybe there will be cake." The door closed and Four's world went black at the word tomorrow.


	29. Chapter 29: Love

**Thank you so much for being patient with me. Enjoy the next chapter!**

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Four is woken up to a loud pounding on his door and he jumps up to see Peter walking past. Four presses his face in the window and watches as Peter opens Tris' door and leads her out. She is stunning as always and he realizes this is the last moment he will see her, he begins to scream and pound on the window.

"I want to….her!" He could barely get the words out, his throat was closing up with emotion. The girl he loved was being marched to her death and he was locked behind a door forced to watch her. "I…see her!" He saw Tris hesitate and turn to Peter, he couldn't hear her but suddenly he sees her approach the window.

"Tris! I want to see her!" He is slamming his fists against the door, wishing he had the strength to break it down. He failed her, hadn't moved fast enough to save her. Just as he felt his whole body breaking, he saw her palm press against the glass. He stares at her in disbelief for a second and then throws his hand up against the glass to line up with hers.

Four visualizes her touch, the electricity that ran across his skin whenever she touched him was in his mind. His eyes connect with hers and he sees the pain and terror in her eyes. Four feels all the fight go out of his body and he allows his head to slump against the glass. He fights to keep his eyes on her, to drink her in for one last moment, but his emotions take over. He slowly raises his head to send her off with his love and promise he would follow and he sees an empty window. That was all Four's heart could take and he falls to the floor, shattered.

She walked away from him, he knows it. Peter didn't drag her or force her or he would have heard it. She slunk away when he wasn't looking and he wasn't sure which hurt worse, her impending execution or her leaving him without a second thought. Somewhere deep inside of him, Four realized she was trying to spare him from saying goodbye but she also took their last moment away from them. The world already felt darker and he felt his body shutting down from the shock of losing the only woman he loved, the only person he let see who he really was. Four felt him slip into the darkness and didn't fight against it, he found peace in the silence, blocking out the thoughts of Tris' life slipping away at the hands of that devil woman.

* * *

After what felt like hours, he heard movement outside of his cell but couldn't find the strength to look. He had no desire to see her body and assumed they were moving it past his cell to torture and break him. It was too late, his spirit had snapped the minute he saw that empty window.

He hears someone muttering outside his door but still can't move. Suddenly the door slides open and he sees Peter standing there holding Tris' limp body. How dare he? What sadistic person tortured someone this way?

"What do-" Four flew off the floor, ready to kill Peter but then he saw the one movement that gave his life meaning again. Tris' chest rose, very shallowly, but it moved.

"Oh my God. Oh-" Four's voice waived trying to put together what was happening in front of him.

"Spare me your blubbering. She's no dead, she's just paralyzed. It'll only last for about a minute so get ready to run." Four couldn't process what he was saying. He had spent the last few hours saying goodbye to her, accepting a life without her, plotting how quickly he could follow her into death and here she was alive.

"Let me carry her." Four couldn't stand being this close to her, having just come to terms with losing her, and not hold her close. He never wanted her out of his arms again but unfortunately Peter doesn't allow for that to happen.

"No. You're a better show than I am. Take my gun. I'll carry her." His heart dropped but his brain registered Peter's logic. He knew he could protect her better than him, his whole being was meant to keeping her alive, Peter may not have put as much effort into that goal. He would have her in his arms the second they left the danger behind.

Four and Peter take off running and he puts Tris out of his mind, his only objective was getting them out alive. Peter shouts for Four to turn left and he hears someone shout. Without even thinking, he turns and shoots, hearing silence afterward. They continue running and Peter keeps giving him directions.

For a split second, Four worries that Peter is not leading them outside but he pushes that aside. If Peter betrays them he will deal with him later, right now he has to trust him. They continue to run and Four about punches Peter when he almost slams Tris' head into the door. They finally enter a room and Peter stops running. Four can't control himself anymore, he rushes over to Tris.

"Tris," he breathes and she smiles up at him, "Beatrice," she corrects him. He smirks at her stubbornness and finds himself laughing.

"Beatrice," he concedes and closes the space between them and connects his lips to hers, something he dreamt about last night. As always, they are not alone and Four groans in frustration as Peter breaks them up.

"Where are we?" he hears Tris ask. Peter slaps a square door, "This is the trash incinerator. I turned it off and it will take us to the alley and then your aim better be perfect Four if you want to get out of here alive."

"Don't concern yourself with my aim," Four says. Peter opens the incinerator and gestures Tris to go first. Four's heart drops for a second but doesn't argue, he has to get her out of this building. Four watches Tris drop down and Peter follow her. He jumps through and as he lands feels his legs slam into the ground. None of that pain matters though because her hands encircle his arms and lift him up and his mind doesn't recognize anything but her touch. He leads her away from the incinerator, toward Peter.

"Got the gun?" Peter sneers. Four wants so badly to put him in his place but he recognizes how indebted he is to Peter. He can't stop himself from mouthing off, the stress from the past 24 hours has made him a little irritable.

"No, I thought I would shoot the bullets out of my nostrils, so I left it upstairs." Peter scoffs at him and pulls out his own gun. As he leads them out of the room, Four believes they are actually going to make it. Four jumps in front of them and peaks around the corner. There are two people guarding the entrance of the alley and Four easily disposes of them, not flinching at the loss of life. Peter takes off and Four shoves Tris in front of him.

They continue running he realizes Peter is heading toward the easy route, taking a straight line toward Dauntless. "Take the least logical route!" Four screams at him. He turns back questioning him and Four yells again, "The least logical route, so they won't find us!"

Peter swerves to the left and down a different alley. The group plows through boxes and then heads toward the marsh. Four realizes it at the same time Tris does and she shouts, "Bad Idea!" They were headed again for the front of Erudite. Peter swerves again and Four sees Tris struggle to keep up the pace. Just as he is going to grab her and carry her, she pulls Peter into a building and he follows. The door is locked so Four fires at the window, breaking it, and unlocking the door. Tris solved their problem as she was near death, hide until they stop searching for them.

They find a spot beneath the stairs and Four sits next to Tris, feeling his body pull to her naturally. As Peter sits across from them, Four sizes him up. Why did he save Tris? Why get Four? What was his motive? How did he get Tris out of there?

"How did you do it?" Tris asks. Peter begins to explain, "It was easy, I dyed a paralytic serum purple and switched them out. I replaced the wire that was supposed to read your heartbeat with a dead one. The heart monitor was harder, I had to get some Erudite help with a remote and stuff, you wouldn't understand if I explained it to you."

Tris wasn't satisfied with that answer and neither was Four. "Why did you do it? You want me dead. You were willing to do it yourself, what changed?"

Four watched Peter for any sign of lying as he answered, "I can't be in anyone's debt. The idea that I owed you something made me sick. I would wake up in the middle of the night feeling like I was going to vomit. Indebted to a stiff? It's ridiculous and I couldn't have it. You saved my life at Amity and I had to repay you."

Four couldn't stand it, the idea that Peter only saved Tris because she saved him, it made him sick.

"You're insane. That's not the way the world works, people don't keep score." Peter continued to argue with him about keeping score and Four couldn't fathom living like that. Finally Peter changes the subject, asking when they could leave.

"In a few hours I imagine. We should head to Abnegation to the factionless and Dauntless who weren't wired for simulations. They will be waiting there." Peter just shook his head and settled in for the time being.

Four put his arm around Tris, finally able to take advantage of being close to her. She pressed into him and his body soared at her touch. He felt all the things he wanted to tell her bubble to the surface but he pushed them back down, saving them for a time they were actually alone.

* * *

After they felt enough time had passed, they ventured toward the Abnegation sector. Four could see people gawking at Tris and realized Jeanine must not have wasted any time in spreading the word that she was dead. He was not looking forward to her reaction when she found she had been betrayed.

"Tris?" Four turns to the voice and sees Uriah and Christina start toward Tris but he stops them.

"She's been through a lot.. She just needs to sleep. She'll be down the street, number thirty seven, come by tomorrow." Four leads Tris to the house that used to belong to Marcus Eaton, his childhood nightmare. He pushes the fear away, being strong for Tris, and steps through the front door.

As they enter, Four sees Tori, Harrison, and Evelyn standing in the kitchen. He notices the shock cross their face and Four sees Tris lean into the wall and he quickly embraces his mother. She whispers, "Thank God you are alive, I was terrified." Four smiles instantly, hearing that love from one of his parents he had been craving his whole life. He walks back over to Tris and leads her toward the staircase. She follows him upstairs and he leads her into his old bedroom.

Part of him craves for a simpler time when he would have brought her to his home after making her his wife. Their life was so confusing right now, he just wanted one moment of peace and quiet with her. He couldn't take his hands off her, he felt that if he let go of her again she would disappear and this dream would end.

"Marcus didn't go in here after I left, nothing was moved around." Four was rambling, he was so overwhelmed with emotions. He saw Tris' eyes connect with the sculpture on his dresser.

"My mother smuggled that to me when I was young. She told me to hide it and the day of the choosing ceremony I put it there so he would see it. My small act of defiance." Four smiled at the memory of the boy walking toward his freedom. Little did he know he would find the meaning for his life in Dauntless too, the woman standing in front of him.

Four notices Tris' feet are cut up and he leads her over to his tub in the bathroom, "Let's take care of those feet." She follows, clearly tired beyond belief. As he begins to wash her feet, he is overcome with emotion. He almost lost her this morning but now she is in his house, his arms. He feels her grab his hands and begin to scrub the blood from them but he can barely register her touch, his body finally shutting down after the day.

He hears Tris begin to whimper, "I don't…" her voice breaks and Four squeezes her hand willing her to continue. "My family is all dead or traitors, how can I…?" His heart breaks for her, he never realized how alone she must feel right now, especially after Caleb's betrayal.

He pulls her too him and wraps his arms around her. If he could take this pain away from her, he would in a second. She had survived more than any person should.

"I'll be your family now." He meant it, if this stupid war wasn't happening, he would marry her this second. He was all she had left and he was determined to keep her safe.

"I love you." His breathing stopped, unsure of what he just heard. When he had told her that on the train, he saw the hesitation in her eyes and it had left a doubt in his mind ever since. It was one of the reasons they had so many arguments in the past, he was unsure. He doesn't dwell on that now though, she is his and he is hers. His brain slowly catches up and he realizes he hasn't said anything in a while. He looks up as he feels Tris squeeze his hands and meets her eyes.

"Say it again," he whispers to her. He had to know he didn't imagine that.

"Tobias." His heart stops at the sound of his name from her lips. "I love you." He wraps his arms around her and pulls her to him and plants kisses all over her neck and face. Finally he settles on her lips and his heart soars at the contact.

"I love you too."


	30. Chapter 30: Foward

**This was an awful chapter for Tobias/Four. It was actually quite boring and I'm sorry if this chapter drags. I am getting the next one done and hope to have it up by tomorrow. Again, don't hate me for this lackluster chapter, the action should heat up again soon. Thanks for all the kind words on this story, I have loved writing it. A few people have questioned by use of 3rd person. One last time as to why I chose it, I began writing the story in 1st person but realized even though it is in Four's POV, Tris is a huge part of who he is and needs her voice as well. 3rd person allows for me to give her some spotlight time as well. Harry Potter was written in third person POV and I liked how you got to see all the characters, not just the main one. the next story I am writing will be in 1st person. I hope you enjoy, push through the snoozefest that this chapter is so we can get to the good stuff haha.**

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She was back in his arms, he could have stayed in that bed all night, enjoying the feel of her breath on his cheek, the warmth of her body pressed against his but he knew he was needed downstairs. '_Five more minutes," _he thought to himself. This was the most peace Four and Tris had in the past few months and he wasn't exactly eager to break it. He hadn't slept most of the night, afraid if he closed his eyes she would disappear and he would wake up back in that cell.

Finally he knew he had to go down, he was needed for some of the planning. He quietly removed himself from her arms, kissed her forehead and began to leave the room. As he was about to leave, Four realized Tris was still wearing the clothes she had been put in for her execution. He quickly headed to his mother's room and grabbed a few items for Tris to change into. He gently places them on the bed next to her, kisses her forehead and heads downstairs.

As he enters the room, he instantly sees their group of friends waiting to see Tris, just as he asked them to do.

"Four! Is she awake, can we see Tris now? It's been driving me crazy knowing she is here but not being able to talk to her!" Christina begins to shout, he can feel her excitement to see her best friend again. He is glad they made amends over Will, Four knows Tris would never kill someone in cold blood like Christina thought she did.

"She is still sleeping, be patient, she's been through a lot. Let's give her some time." He turned and walked into the kitchen and just as he was about to start looking for food, he heard the shower turn on upstairs. That must mean she was awake. He headed back into the living room to tell the group she was up but they were already running up the stairs. It was such an unfamiliar sound in an Abnegation home, the sound of joy and laughter, especially this one.

Four chuckled and let them be, knowing they needed time with Tris without him all over her. His arms already felt alone and a surge of panic went through him at the thought of Tris not being next to him, but he just told himself she was here, this was real.

He shifted back into the kitchen and began to remove the necessary ingredients for a second batch of scrambled eggs, when in Abnegation, eat like Abnegation. His hands completed the necessary tasks from memory, as if Dauntless had never happened. Four cracked the eggs into the bowl, swirled them around, and placed them into the already hot pan, thinking back to a time when making breakfast was an enjoyment for him. When his mom would come down the stairs and they would start their day together. He didn't think about what would happen if the eggs weren't exactly the right consistency or burnt slightly.

While making breakfast, he let his mind wander to the hope that one day he would make these for Tris as her husband. He knew when this war was over they would finally be able to settle down and start their life together. Only being 18, almost 19, Four laughed at the thought of settling down at such an early age but the past months events caused him to grow up fast.

He was just placing the eggs into the now empty can and walked back into the living room. Four took a bite and passed the can around the circle. He settled into a spot against the coffee table, facing the stairs, and allowed himself for the first time in a long time to relax. At this moment, he and Tris were as safe as they could be.

Just as the room quiets down, Four looks to the stairs and sees Tris standing there with Uriah, Christina, and Lynn. He wants to jump up and wrap her up in his arms but he resists. People need to see her first before he keeps her to himself. He can feel the displeasure roll off Evelyn of Tris being in her home but he will deal with that later.

"Everyone this is Tris Prior. I believe you may have heard a lot about her yesterday," Evelyn introduces her. Four sees Tris shift uncomfortably, she never liked attention from a crowd.

"And Uriah, Christina, and Lynn," Four tries to distract everyone but the factionless just stare, it's not everyday you see someone come back from the "dead."

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" one man asks which gets a laugh out of many of the other people in the room.

"Supposed to be," Tris says and Four jumps in, "We don't like to give Jeanine Matthews what she wants." Finally he allows his screaming body to stand up and walk over to her, handing her the fresh can of scrambled eggs. As he sits, she sits down next to him and his body sings at the slight contact. He receives a can of peaches from a factionless and passes it to Tris.

Tris turns to him and asks the question Four knew she wanted to ask last night but was too exhausted. "Why is everyone camped out in Marcus' house?"

Four smiles, loving that Tris knows enough to never use the word father when relating to that man. "Evelyn kicked him out, it's her house too. Obviously it caused a huge fight but Evelyn won." A grin was permanently plastered to his face for many reasons, but the main one was the girl sitting next to him.

He saw her glance toward Evelyn, feeling the tension roll off her body. Tris still didn't trust his mother and that bothered him. He didn't want to start a fight right now but he wished they would get along, find common ground in Jeanine Matthews' demise.

Four distracts Tris with more food, handing her two slices of bread, hating how skinny she has become from her time at Erudite. He sees Peter enter the room and he immediately shields Tris slightly with his body.

"I think she is trying to recruit him. She has a way of making the factionless life sound extraordinarily appealing," Four states.

"Anything to get him out of Dauntless. I don't care if he saved my life, I still don't like him."

"Hopefully we won't have to worry about faction distinctions anymore by the time this is over. It'll be nice, I think." He could feel Tris tense but for now she let it go. Whether it was because she didn't want to fight or she was starting to warm up to the idea, he didn't care. He didn't want to fight with her anymore than she did.

Four watches Edward carefully as he enters the room, setting his eyes on Peter. The have a small confrontation but Evelyn breaks it up.

"Have you noticed how unstable Edward is?" Four turns to Tris, noticing her eyes wide at the almost fight.

"I've thought that too." "That Drew guy that helped Peter attack Edward, did you notice he isn't around anymore?"

"Did Edward kill him," Tris asked, turning toward him. At that moment Four noticed so much sorrow and pain in her eyes. He wondered what it was from, maybe this house. He forgot she lost her whole family, maybe Abnegation wasn't the right place to bring her.

"Almost but I guess that is why Myra left him. Tris, is it too hard being in an Abnegatio home? I meant to ask you before, if it is we can go somewhere else." He squeezed her hand, hoping all the dishonesty between them was long past.

"Not as much as you might think, the simulations in Erudite helped me move past it, someday I'll tell you about it." Four wasn't sure what to say next, he had no idea how to break her out of this sadness he felt wrapped around her. She wasn't the same beaming, bright Tris he had come to know and love. He knew most of it had been from her near death experience just yesterday but he felt it was almost something more.

Ignoring all the others around him, he brushed her cheek with his hand, unable to keep this distance any longer, needing to help push away her sadness. He presses his lips to hers, pouring love into that small moment.

He hears jeering coming from around him and he pulls away, wishing so much they had just a moment alone for once.

"Whoa there Tobias! Weren't you raised a Stiff? I thought the most you people did was….graze hands or something." It was strange to hear his real name come from anyone but Tris but he assumed the time for covering up his identity was long past. He still wished that was a secret only they shared together.

"How do you explain all the Abnegatin children then?" he asked the factionless man.

"They were brought into being by sheer force of will, didn't you know that Tobias?"

"No I wasn't aware, my apologies." Everyone in the room laughed, he even saw Tris light up slightly but saw her eyes evaluating him. He wondered what she was thinking but didn't get a chance to ask. They all got up and began walking through the streets. He saw Zeke and Shauna zoom by, pure bliss on each other's faces as if a war wasn't looming on the horizon. He wished he and Tris could share that joy but they had different responsibilities hanging over them. After the war, that would be their time.

He watched Tris slowly drift away from him. His first instinct was to follow her but he stopped himself. He had to let her heal without him suffocating her. She needed time to grieve all she had lost, she would come back to him. As he watched her tiny frame turn the corner, his heart sank for her. If there was one thing in the world he wished he could do for her it would be to bring back her family.

Four turns and heads back to the house he grew up in vowing to himself that he would make her life better. After Jeanine Matthews was gone and this whole situation was over, he would take her, make her his own, and start a life with her. They were each other's family now, it was only a matter of time before that life could start.


	31. Chapter 31: Trust

Four was hoping Tris would make it back before they announced the plan, he wanted here to there analyze Evelyn's master attack strategy. He knew Erudite had to be stopped but he wasn't sure they were going about it the right way, it felt too ruthless, too violent. He noticed something had slightly changed in Evelyn now that the battle was drawing near, a blood-thirstiness he never saw before was peaking through in her eyes.

"Just five more minutes, please," he asked her, wanting to wait for Tris to get back. He saw her roll her eyes, clearly her distaste for Tris had not changed since she attempted to sacrifice herself for everyone.

"Fine, but if she isn't here by then we are starting. No sense is making _everyone_ wait for one little girl," Evelyn said and then turned and walked away. Four bit his tongue, not wanting to argue with her now. She had agreed to allow them to be in the same group, Four arguing if they weren't he wouldn't participate. Evelyn must have realized how valuable he was and he mentioned how useless he would be if he was worrying about Tris the whole time so she reluctantly agreed.

Four began to follow his mother and heard a small part of her conversation with the other leaders. "He wants us to wait for her….nothing special…..not sure what he sees in her….be gone when this is over." Four clenched his fists and made it a priority to let Evelyn know that Tris wasn't going anywhere and she gave up that right when she abandoned him.

Although Four had mostly forgiven her and started to think of her as his mother again, if she pushed this issue he was happy to cut her out of his life again for Tris.

Five minutes passed and Evelyn motioned for Four to join them at the front of the group. Just as he began to worry that something happened to her, he saw Tris join their group of friends when Evelyn began. He kept his eyes off her, keeping his expression blank so as to not influence her thoughts on Evelyn's plans.

As Evelyn laid them out, the destruction of Erudite's information and their people, he felt they were crossing the same line Erudite did when it attacked Abnegation. He heard the cheers ring out for Erudite's destruction and realized there was a lot of hatred in this group for that faction, for all factions, and once this momentum started it would be hard to stop.

He was glad that Tris was going to be in his group. He secretly planned to remove themselves from the fight if it got too serious or dangerous, choosing to flee rather than risk their own lives. As the meeting broke up, he saw Tris walk into his house and followed her, needing to close the space that was between them and find out where she went.

He headed up the stairs and stopped for a quick second to observe her in his room, her watching out the window. He quietly enters and asks, "What's wrong?" He knows her insight may help them stay alive during the battle in a few days and needs to know her thoughts.

"Nothing really, I was just thinking I'm surprised the factionless agreed to work with Dauntless so easily. It's not like the Dauntless were ever kind to them." Four smiled, loving how her brain worked, finding each situation that was odd and analyzing it. He also loved that they seemed to be back on the same wavelength, it also disturbed him they were so willing to work together.

"It's not a natural alliance, but we have the same goal," Four said. The "we" slipped out and he realized he still agreed with most of Evelyn's plans, thought of them as his own.

Tris turned to him "Right now but what happens when the goals change? The factionless want to get rid of the factions and the Dauntless don't." She made a good point but lately Four had been thinking of a world without factions, a world where they didn't have to be just one thing. It might be nice but he wasn't sure how they would move from the world that was so familiar to a world without boundaries and not break into chaos.

He didn't comment, unsure of how to voice his thoughts without Tris taking it the wrong way at the moment. It was a conversation for another day and if he learned anything while they were prisoners and watching Tris walk to her death, he had to find the right time to discuss sensitive matters so they wouldn't pull apart again.

He chose to change the subject, which he knew wouldn't go unnoticed by her but luckily she didn't fight it this time.

"You are in my group during the attack. I hope you don't mind, we're supposed to lead the way to the control room," he said, hoping to see the relief wash over her face. But he saw something else quickly flash across it, panic maybe? She was quiet for a moment and he wanted to ask her what was on her mind but knew she wouldn't tell him.

Watching her close, he sees a sign of nervousness and when she looks back up at him he almost wonders if her next words are a lie, a cover up for something else but pushes it away. He has to start trusting her again, taking that first step to healing their relationship.

"I still can't fire a gun and after what happened at Erudite, risking my life doesn't seem so appealing anymore." He couldn't believe what he was hearing, was she actually making a choice for herself? Was she going to protect herself like he had been begging her to do since they left this city? Deep down inside of him, something was screaming at him that this didn't feel right, it was too easy but he pushed it away.

He reaches out for her face, "Tris you don't have to go." It would be so much easier if he knew she was here, safe. The thought of having her so close to Jeanine again made him very nervous but he didn't want to tell her to stay back, she was deciding that for herself.

"I don't want to seem like a coward." It was a fact, Tris had to be the hero but she was finally willing to take a step back.

"Hey, you have done more for this faction than any other person, you are the bravest person I've ever met. Stay here, let yourself mend." Four leaned into his words, pressing his forehead against hers. He loved her so much and desperately wanted this to be over so they could move on with their lives.

His lips connect with hers and his heart soars but that tiny part of him also rears up and scream out that she is hiding something. He can feel it in her kiss but again pushes down the fear and puts all his trust in her. As they pull away he hears her ragged breath and watches her turn toward the window. He closes his eyes and prays he is wrong, that the fear he has is just his uncertainty from all the other times she has lied to him.

As he pulls away, he allows his trust in her to envelop him and he secures that in his mind as he prepares himself for what is to come.


	32. Chapter 32: Bridge

**I decied to skip over Four preparing for the battle and the beginning part for two reasons; it would be a lot to create on my own and this story is already getting very long:) I hope you enjoy, this had a lot of Four angst in it haha.**

* * *

The next day they are all preparing to get ready for the attack and Four pulls Evelyn aside to speak with her about Tris.

"Listen, Tris feels it would be better if she sat out this one. She is still recovering from her near execution and long time spent in Erudite headquarters and is not as skilled with a gun as she once used to be." He saw Evelyn sneer and braced himself for her reaction, keeping his temper in check.

"You were in a cell just as long as she was I do recall. As for the gun thing, that girl has to learn sometimes in war you have to do things you aren't happy with. Killing that boy kept her alive. I don't see why-" Four cut her off

"She's staying back, end of story. If you have a problem with it then I'm out too. I watched what she went through at Erudite, every second of it. No one else could have survived that, not even me!" Four felt his voice raise but he steadied his breathing.

"Tobias, I just wish you weren't so blinded by her, she is really nothing-"

"Before you finish that sentence I want you to look deep inside yourself and ask, 'Do you want me to help you with this? Do you want a relationship with your son?' If either answer is yes, you won't say one more word about Tris. Nothing you can say will change my mind about her, only about you. Speak carefully from now on when addressing me about my girlfriend, one day she will be more than that, live with it. She is permanent."

He turned and walked away, not wanting to get in a screaming match the day before they left. He found Tris in his room again fast asleep in bed. She still looked so frail from her time spent in Erudite. He removed his shoes and climbed in next to her, gathering her in his arms. He heard her breathing change and knew he had woken her up.

"Good morning. Sorry I woke you up, I was trying to get in as quietly as possible." Before he could say another word, Tris turned and was kissing him as passionately as she ever had before. Her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer as her body shifted to press against him. He quickly got over the shock and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her waist and moving her even closer.

Four began to trail kisses down her neck and heard a quiet moan escape her lips. She began to fumble with his shirt, sliding it up to reveal his stomach. His breathing hitched and he paused his lips on her collarbone as her hands slid along his stomach, along the top edge of his pants.

He planted one more kiss on her collarbone and met her lips again while gently guiding her hands back up to his chest. His body screamed for Tris, wanting to take the next step but he wouldn't do it out of fear, it would be out of passion and desire. He slowed their kissing down and eventually pulled away, leaving them both short of breath.

"Tris…" he whispered as her hands drifted back down to rest on his hips. "Tris, not like this." He felt her pull away, saw the hurt in her eyes.

"Tris, believe me, every part of me wants this right now but not like this. Not out of fear of what might happen, when it happens it will be because our future is secure. I love you, you know that, and I will come back to you." He pulled away slightly and saw humor cross her face. She smiled at him, chuckling quietly.

"Tobias Eaton, did you just turn me down? That must have taken a lot of will power but you are right, I am scared you won't come back to me. I now understand what it must have felt to you, wondering if you would be left alone, when I left before. Please come back to me." He heard her voice waver and wondered if it was only because of the fear, or if something else was going on.

He gave her another small kiss. "I am about to show even more will power. I have to get downstairs to finish getting ready for tomorrow. Are you sure you and Christina are going to be ok? I don't like the idea of you going back to Amity headquarters. Why not just stay here?"

She cleared her throat, "It will be the last place they check for us. It is a safe haven and they can't hurt us there, not this time, not after what they almost did to me. I promise you I will be waiting for you there, when you are done." He heard it that time, the hesitation in her voice. There was something she wasn't telling him, just like last time.

"Tris what is going on? Is there something you aren't telling me?" He hated the distrust in his voice, how weak it sounded but if he wasn't sure she was safe, absolutely safe, he would be distracted all day tomorrow and distractions were deadly.

She grabbed his face in her hands and looked him right in the eye. "Tobias, I am going to Amity with Christina, we are going to hide out there until this is over. The further away I am, the less chance Jeanine has to getting me and using me against you. I love you, please trust me this time." Her voice broke again but he told himself it was due to the emotions. He had to let this go.

"Ok. I just hate saying goodbye to you. I don't know how long it is going to take to get control of their headquarters but I'll find you as soon as I can." He wrapped her up in his arms and held her as tight as possible, feeling her squeeze him back as if she was saying goodbye. He kissed her one more time with as much passion as possible then gave her a quick peck on the lips. They walked down the stairs and outside where Christina was waiting.

"I love you. Come find me when it is over."

"I love you too Tris. Once this is over, I'm taking you back to Dauntless and we are never leaving our bed." Once last kiss and then he watched her walk over to meet up with Christina. His body was screaming at him to follow her, it wasn't worth the separation but he had to make this world safe for them. With as much strength as he had, he turned and walked back into the house.

* * *

The battle wasn't going well, Tobias could see they were outnumbered from the beginning but Evelyn pushes them forward. As they are fighting their way through innocent Candor, Evelyn yells at him.

"Jeanine isn't here! That bitch is hiding, someone said she is upstairs in her office, Tobias go!" Just as he is about to take off, he sees Tori go sprinting away, headed for the stairs too. He remembers her personal vendetta against Jeanine and knows if Tori finds her first, she will be dead before Evelyn can interrogate her.

He grabs Uriah as he sprints through the battle scene and they head up the stairs. The Candor put up a fight but they push through them, trying to stun or knock them out without hurting them. These people didn't ask for this, they are under simulation just like Dauntless was. Once more Jeanine is using others unwillingly to fight her war. He is glad Tris didn't come with, this would have made her fear of guns worse.

They barrel up the stairs and Four comes to a complete stop as he sees Christina lying on the stairs, a bullet wound in her leg. "What the hell!? Why are you here?" Christina looks at him but doesn't answer and Four rushes past her, knowing if Christina is here then Tris is too.

He and Uriah make it to the floor where Jeanine's office supposedly is and hear a fight. As they push into the next room, they are met with a thick fog that stings their eyes and fills their lungs. Four starts to take the room at a run but trips over something….someone. He looks down and sees Marcus and his vision turns red with rage. They push through the doors to find Jeanine with a knife sticking out of her stomach, Tori on one side of the room….and Tris on the other.

Four's body slides further into a rage he has never experienced before. She betrayed him twice, lied to him twice. That goodbye this morning was a lie, the physical stuff last night as a lie. All a way to make herself feel better for the betrayal she was about to do AGAIN. He felt himself start to shake and couldn't find a single thing to say to her.

Tris looks at him with hope, hope that he will once again forgive her for her betrayal. But this was one too many times.

Tori speaks before anyone else can, "She is a traitor, she just almost shot me to defend Jeanine." Four knew that wasn't true but he also knew why Tris was here. How dare she lie to him! He felt so content this morning that she was safe at Amity and she could have been killed. Didn't she understand how that would have broken him, to find her body among the dead here when he thought she was safe. But she didn't care, that wasn't what Tris Prior did. She thought only of herself.

"You know why I'm here. Don't you?" She is trying to reason with him, defend her actions but he can't hear her right now.

"We found Marcus in the next room. You came up here with him." It was a statement, one that was incredibly painful for him to say. The fact that she took his side, the side of the man who tortured Four so brutally splintered something inside of him.

"Yes I did," she admitted, at least the lying was done. He could barely look at her, thinking back to each lying kiss she had planted on him yesterday morning.

"I trusted you," he said, nothing left inside of him. "I trusted you and you abandoned me to work with him?" His head was spinning, barely holding in the rage that overwhelmed his body.

She shook her head, he saw in her eyes she thought he would forgive it all, she was crumbling because he was finally standing up to her. "No, he told me something and everything my brother said, everything Jeanine said while I was in Erudite headquarters, fit perfectly with what he told me. And I wanted, needed to know the truth."

Marcus? Her brother? Jeanine? Three people that had never shown one ounce of caring toward Tris. Three people that were ruthless and had personal agendas that mostly included taking her life, and she chose them over Four. The man who would have given up everything for her, the man who risked his own life to save her from Erudite and watched as they tortured her and broke apart when he thought she was dead, but he was not the one she chose. Something snapped inside of him that moment and he wasn't sure if it could ever be fixed.

"The truth. You think you learned the truth from a liar, a traitor, and a sociopath?" He stared her down, trying to find where they had gone wrong, where the girl who had captured his heart the minute she hit that net had disappeared to. This war had changed them and he wasn't sure it was for the better.

He saw her breaking down, saw the anger building up in her eyes and he braced himself for her anger that would be thrown back at him. He finally saw how she did it, how she pulled him back in each and every time. She was able to manipulate him with her words and he wasn't going to let it happen this time.

"I think you are the liar! You tell me you love me, you trust me, you think I'm more perceptive than the average person and the first second that belief in my perceptiveness, that trust, that love is put to the test? It all falls apart. So you must have lied when you told me all those things, you must have, because I can't believe your love is really that feeble."

He braced himself but he never could have been ready for that. For her to accuse him of not actually loving her, trusting her, was beyond reason. The only thing he did was love her, it was all that held him together when he entered Erudite that day. It was all he was fighting this war for. As the tears streamed down her face he finally saw through her tough bravado. Everyone she loved had left her, died or betrayed her, and she was alone. She wasn't going to let him fully in because he might do the same. She only thought of herself because who else gave her reason to trust them?

For as brave as Tris was, she was a scared little girl who just wanted someone to fight for her. All the anger left his body as she stepped toward him. He would fight for her, even if it meant keeping her from these stupid rash decisions, he would fight. He knew she didn't side with Marcus, just used him to get to her final goal, find out what her parents had died for.

She approached him and he was still calming himself down, but he didn't say a word to her. He was going to let her do the talking, let her mend it this time.

"I am still the person who would have died rather than kill you. I am exactly who you think I am. And right now, I am telling you that I know this information will change everything. Everything we have done and everything we are about to do." He wants to grab her and kiss her but that is what he always does, forgives her instantly. He has already done that, forgiveness isn't a question but he has to hold back. He has to know that no matter how strongly she feels about something, lying and deceit is not the way to accomplish her goals any more. They had to solve these things as a team, together.

As painful as it is, he turns away from her gaze but his mind drifts back to the day he was in simulation. The day her voice pulled him out of it just before he killed the only girl he has ever loved. That is where he wants to get back to, not the danger or fighting, but the love that pulled him from the depths. That is what they needed to return to.

He followed them down the stairs as Uriah led Tris, Four unable to touch her at this moment. If he did, he would wrap her up and run away with her never to return. As they enter the main lobby he stops and notices only the factionless have weapons but pushes it from his mind. The other Dauntless are standing around the Candor and he assumes they don't want to frighten them with weapons after coming out of the simulation. He stops to watch the scene and sees Tris reconnect with Christina and then walks past them, not making eye contact or even glancing in their direction.

Four walks right up to the one person he had a hard time making eye contact with, the one person he would love to beat for all the pain he has caused. He grabs Caleb by the arm and wrenches him into a standing position. He loves the fear in Caleb's eyes and knows what Four looks like to him.

"What do you want?" Caleb squeaks out.

"I want you to disarm the security system for Jeanien's laboratory. So that the factionless can access her computer." He takes Caleb with him and prays that Christina can keep Tris safe while he completes his new mission. He takes Caleb up the stairs, two at a time, knowing he has to make it to Jeanine's computer before Evelyn makes her big announcement. This is the only way to show Tris that he does believe in her, that he does love her. This is the only way to finally close up the wound that has been growing between them and get back to the love and trust he knew they both had for each other.


End file.
